When the Wolf Cries
by PhantomNinja90
Summary: GaaraxOC NaruSaku InoShika. Gaara has always fought for himself, and loved himself. But when he encounters a girl who is also sealed with a demon, he comes to the conclusion that he can't kill her. Can she melt the ice that envelopes his heart?
1. The Encounter

(beams) Konichiwa minna-san! (smile) This is my very first Naruto fanfiction! I hope y'all enjoy it.

When the wolf cries

Chapter 1: The encounter

"C'mon! We have the day off! Hurry up, we're gonna go to the river!" shouted a sixteen year-old pink haired girl, waving at me. I smiled, fully aware of why she really wanted to be there faster.

I am Yamiho Yukiko, and I have a terrible secret: something that I can't tell Sakura-chan, not yet anyways. I was born and raised in the village of Kumogakure until I turned five, and then my sister and I fled to Kohona. I won't give the details, but we basically got booted out of the village.

"Yuki-chan, hurry up, I wanna get there quick!" Sakura shouted back to me.

I broke into a run and raced along side her. I grinned madly, wrinkling my nose as I did so, "The only reason why you wanna get there so damn quick is because Naruto-kun and you used to picnic there before."

Sakura's eyes twitched and her face turned a bright red. I laughed as she glared at me, but I still knew she had a thing for him. She had told me about Sasuke, and told me how she was over him. Sakura explained that they still never found him, but he was probably still roaming around trying to kill his brother Itachi. The silly girl was still in denial about her secret feelings, but I still loved to tease.

"I told you a thousand times I don't feel like that about him, Yuki-chan!" Sakura protested as they ran through the forest, towards the river.

"Whatever," I said grinning and we continued our journey in silence.

Within a few minutes, we arrived at the river, and we greeted Shikamaru-kun and Ino-chan. Shika had mentioned that he wanted to go cloud gazing in the meadow today, and Ino suggested that we all meet by the river, to go for a quick swim.

"Heeey! Sakura-chan, Yuki-chan! 'Bout time you got here!" shouted Ino and waved the pair over, "We were going to start without you if you hadn't gotten her a few minutes later."

"Your delay kept us from swimming… how trouble some," muttered Shikamaru with his usual deadpan face.

"Gomen-ne, It's my fault… I wanted to make lunch, so I made Sakura stay with me. I'm so sorry," I said, bowing my head in apology.

"Well, you were late for a good cause, besides I'm hungy," Noted Ino with a large smirk.

"Is anyone else hungy?" I asked as I retrieved my cooked meal from my pack. I turned and saw everyone with their hand up, and I chuckled as I pulled the box lunches from the pack and set them down on a blanket.

I watched as Shikamaru opened his and proceeded to scarf it down. I had made a large amount of omelet, Shika-kun's favorite treat. Ino-chan opened hers and inhaled.

"It smells delicious," she noted and broke her chopsticks apart. I smiled at the fact that everyone was enjoying my cooking, and bit into a shrimp. I chewed at the cooked little piece of seafood and breathed deeply.

**Plit**

I stopped in mid bite as I heard the noise. Great… a day off of the job and I'm already having to focus on something other than the good food and the serenity of the forest. I kept my guard up just incase, but I continued to eat my lunch silently.

"Is something wrong?"

I looked up from my meal, apparently no one else had heard the noise. I looked at Shikamaru, his expression unchanged. There was a slight possibility that he had noticed, his I.Q. was well over two hundred, but he was probably too lazy to mention anything. Perhaps I hadn't hear anything at all…

"I'm fine, I think I ate a piece of the shell," I stated in reference to the shrimp I was consuming. Sakura gave me a funny look, then shrugged it off and continued eating. I gave a weak smile, it was probably just me.

**Plit**

**_"_**_Okay, Maybe I am hearing something," _I thought as I stood up, "Suminasen, I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Piped Sakura. I Turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Gonna go wash my hands," I told her. It wasn't technically a lie – my hands were really sticky and I did need to wash them, but at the same time I was going to go check out the area near the river, because that's where the sound came from.

I strolled down the path that led to the running water. Bending over, I stuck my hands in the cool stream and rubbed them together to rid them of the sticky juices.

**Plit**

I craned my head around, searching the thickets of the forest with my eyes. Something was out there. I continued to scan the scenery, fixing my eyes on a mass of moonfire flowers, a very rare breed of blossoms. They grew in the desert, and they only bloomed at night, soaking up the light of the moon. I knew it to be most suspicious to see the flowers here in the outskirts of Kohona, and I drew a kunai from my pack. My cold weapon in hand, I moved towards the patch of flowers, positioning myself to strike.

With a swift movement, the knife left my hand and struck the patch. Something let out a scream as I ran over to it, another knife in hand.

I bent down to look at what I had hit. A young rabbit had been pinned by my knife.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, little one," I crooned as I pulled my knife out of its cottontail. The hare scampered off and I sighed with relief, as I stood up and turned around.

**Crack**

I spun around instinctively as the noise broke the silence. A young man had broken a twig as he dragged himself through the flowers, his blood soaking the white moonfire blossoms.

I sharply inhaled as I looked at him: He had thick mahogany colored hair and he looked as if he hadn't slept for a very long time because there were bags under his eyes. His wounds were very large, and his blood leaked out of them. He opened his eyes; they were a pale emerald. He glared at me and opened his mouth to say something, but a fit of coughs and the spitting of blood prevented him from doing so. Then I became aware of that med kit inside my pack back at the picnic site.

I knelt down besides him and tore at the wrappings around my left arm that hid a few scars I had received from when I was younger.

"My name is Yamiho Yukiko, let me help you," I told him calmly, "I need to stop the bleeding, let me see your arm."

As I reached out to help him, he snarled at me, and batted my hand away with a kunai. I drew back my now bloody hand, and reached out again, "I won't hurt you, honest. Please let me help you."

He tried to bat away my hand again and I withdrew it as he swiped. He covered the lesion on his arm with his hand, wincing in pain. I quickly gazed at his body, making sure he had no broken bones; he didn't. I crouched as I put my plan into action.

I sprang over him with a quick jump, and span to fast for the injured man to turn. I gently sprang onto him and hugged his back. This prevented two things: the large gaping gash on his back from bleeding anymore, and it also prevented him from striking me again. I pressed my self into him, and I felt his warm blood soak into my dress.

He thrashed against my grip as I held onto him, letting my dress stop the blood flow. After two full minutes of wriggling, he stopped.

"I'll kill you," he choked, his mouth dripping with fresh scarlet liquid.

"You're in no condition to kill now," I snorted, making the last hand symbol for a paralyzing jutsu. His movements ceased, and I released him from my grip.

"Sorry, I had to do this, but you just wouldn't agree with me," I said to him. The boy was quite handsome, and on his forehead was a tattoo that read 'ai'. I took my wrappings and bound his other wounds: the one on his back had finally stopped gushing blood.

Once finished, I stood up; half wondering why nobody had heard this.

"Stay here and don't move – which you can't, I'll be back to dress your wounds properly," I told him, and his eyes shone with a look of hate on them.

I sprinted at full speed back to our picnic sight, and everyone looked at me with horrified expressions, even Shika looked slightly rattled.

"What-"

"It's not my blood," I explained to Sakura, and dumped my pack, and picked up my medical kit, "someone's been hurt, and they aren't being cooperative with me."

"B-but, your soaked in blood," Ino stuttered with an apprehensive expression. I looked down and sure enough I was covered in red liquid.

"Take us with you, we'll help," said Sakura, leaping up from her sitting place. The rest followed suit, and I dashed back down the path, everyone in pursuit. I scurried over to the bleeding boys side and didn't notice that everyone had stopped dead in there tracks. I pulled out my antiseptic wash, and pulled off the now blood-soaked bandages.

His cuts were pretty nasty, but they hadn't been infected yet. I squirted a fair amount of wash onto a cloth and rubbed it on his arm. He growled though his teeth, and I lifted the justsu on his head so I could talk with him.

"You're mangled pretty badly, but its nothing I can't fix," I told him as stitched up the wound on his arm. I climbed over him, and tore away at his shirt, gaping at what I saw.

His wound was very deep, but it had already started to heal by itself.

"What the-"

"-hell are you doing?" screeched Sakura. I turned my head and looked at her and everyone else: they all had a look of shock on their faces.

"That's Gaara of the sand! He kills anything in his path! Stop helping him!" Screamed Sakura, "Not to mention he's possessed by that demon Shukaku."

I stared at the boy called Gaara. No wonder he didn't look like he hadn't gotten any sleep; the demon inside him must not be very controllable. That's also explains his healing wound, and why he knocked my hand away.

I looked into the eyes of Gaara: past the shield of hatred, and I knew exactly what I saw in him.

Pain.

"He must have been the same…" I muttered to myself. I looked down at him as I stood up.

"There is a difference," I said out loud, "between being a monster, and being a container for the monster."

There was absolute silence from the other four standing at the edge of the river. Naruto had a painful look plastered on to his face. I knew why, and I know that I'm not going to tell anyone else about Kyuubi.

"He's not a monster," I said, and released the bindings on him completely.

Bad mistake.

Gaara pulled up into a kneeling position, and within seconds had me in a tight grip of sand. I looked at the sneer on his face, and I knew that he had killed many before, but I also knew he wouldn't kill me.

"It… must have been painful," I said. His eyes widened every so slightly at what I said.

"It must have been painful," I repeated, looking into his eyes, "To be shunned by all, right?"

He tightened his grip on me, but hesitated to kill. I started to feel hot tears running down my cheeks.

"It must have been painful, to stay awake every night," I said sobbing, "and fear that the demon would take control, and kill people, wasn't it? To not be loved, to be called a monster, to be-"

"Shut up," he snapped and tightened his grip further. I felt crushed by the sand, but he still hadn't killed me.

"But you're not," I cried. Everyone stared at me, shouting at this boy I didn't know, but I already knew him well, "You're not a monster, and you aren't a demon. You're a human, just like me, just like Sakura, Ino, Shika, and everyone else! You're just a person that's carrying something horrible inside you, and it's not your fault! It wasn't your choice, but the Kazekage sealed it to you, and now you have to carry this awful burden.

You don't have to kill everything, you don't deserve to be hated: no one does. You don't have to listen to the demon, and you don't have to be ruled by it. You don't have to feel lonely!"

Warm tears ran down my cheeks and fell to the ground. I looked at Gaara of the Sand, and he wasn't scowling at me. His face was emotionless, and within a few seconds he let me loose. I fell to the ground sobbing as he limped away from us.

Sakura and Ino rushed to my side, and tried to comfort me, but I didn't pay attention, I was too busy thinking about Gaara. I didn't want to see him flaunt hatred at everything he saw.

I didn't want any person to experience what happened to me…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gaara limped through the forest irritated. His wounds were almost healed and he was extremely puzzled.

"I couldn't I kill that girl," he fumed nonchalantly, "why the hell couldn't I kill that girl? It's not like she understood…"

_"He must have been the same…"_

Gaara covered his ears and hissed. For the first time ever, something actually was putting him out of his calm and collected mood. What the hell did that girl know anyways?

_"My name is Yamiho Yukiko…"_

What the hell did he care for? He was Gaara of the sand. Gaara: the synonym of death to many. He only fought for and loved himself, and that's all the love he needed. He was Gaara, and for the very first time… he hadn't killed someone he had meant to.

Okay sorry about the short chapter, but I didn't want to reveal too much… you'll learn about Yukiko's past in the next chapter so be prepared for a very angsty past!

Ja ne!


	2. The lonely girl hidden in the clouds

Chapter 2: A wolf's tale: The lonely girl hidden in the clouds

Yukiko's past was unpleasantly similar to both Gaara's and Naruto's, and as she broke into tears, her painful past decided to play in her head.

_"I was born and raised," _She told herself. _"In the village of Kumogakure, but I was different from the rest of the villagers…"_

In the village of Kumogakure, roughly sixteen years ago, it had been attacked by a powerful demon: a two-tailed wolf demon known as Ryuken…

"Hold it off until Raikage-sama comes," yelled a kumo-nin.

All the powerful shinobi were gathered, attempting to hold off Ryuken until the Raikage came. Many were injured and deceased. The demon spat and growled, her tails thrashing at ninjas, her fangs snatching and chewing on shinobi.

Ryuken was a female demon, and she was destroying everything in her path.

The Raikage appeared and sealed off the demon to a baby, and died doing so…

_"And that baby was me…" _Yukiko thought, still trapped in her nightmare.

Five years later, a young girl ran down the street to the playground: that same baby from those five years ago. She laughed carelessly as she dashed down the road: her raven colored hair flapping behind her head and her dark violet eyes shinning.

She came to a halt and walked over to the swings. Two children crept up to her as she started to pump.

"Hey it's the monster girl," said one of them, the other one stopped the swing.

The new Raikage had not banned any talk about poor Yukiko's condition; so she went through the same thing every day.

"I'm not a monster," she said calmly to the two boys who held her swing still, "can you please let go? I want to swing."

"I don't think so," said the fat boy, "I don't think monsters are allowed to use the swings."

"But I'm not a monster, I told you that," she stated and frowned.

"Oh yes you are," said the skinny one, "You're a demon who killed our villagers. You destroyed our village, and Raikage Sandaime, and you better get off the swings, demon."

"I'm not a demon!" she protested. Both boys pushed her off the swings and beat her. Once finished, they left her there bloody and crying.

"We didn't feel like swinging anyways, I don't want to touch that filthy thing anyways… cause I might turn into a monster too."

Yukiko walked back to her house crying, and before she even set foot on the lawn, her older sister ran out to help her.

"Onee-san," she sobbed.

"Let's get you inside," she said and grabbed Yukiko by the hand…

Fully bandaged, Yukiko wiped her tear-stained face.

"It's all my fault, Yuki-chan… If I had went with you, this wouldn't have happened," said the young woman, hugging her sister.

"Is not," said the child, "Its not: those boys would have beaten me up any day, anyway. So its not your fault." Yukiko hugged her only friend, the only person who loved her, and didn't think she was a monster.

"You poor child," whispered her sister, still hugging her, "I love you so much."

A few days later, Yukiko and her sister were booted out from the village because Yukiko "attacked" the two boys that hurt her. Shortly after, they were transferred to Kohona and Yukiko enrolled in the Ninja academy…

"Yuki-chan, are you alright?" Sakura asked for the twelfth time, waving her hand in front of her friends face. Yukiko snapped out of her trance of painful memories, and looked up at the pink haired youth.

"Nani? Oh, hai… I'm fine," Yukiko told her.

Ino glared at Yukiko, "Don't give us that shit. You've been starring for fifteen minutes, and you were almost killed by Gaara. What the hell is going on?"

Yukiko shook her head briskly, "What are you talking about? I'm fine… I was just having some thoughts…"

Both girls eyed her up like she was lying: and she was.

"You know, about that Gaara of the sand," she explained.

Sakura piped up this time, "That guy almost killed you! He almost-"

"-But he didn't," she interrupted, "He almost, but he didn't. I think… I think he might have listened to what I said… I don't like to see people who feel that every thing in the world hates them," she said.

_"Just like I felt when sister died… I didn't have any friends, and for a while I loved nothing but myself. But sensei proved me wrong…" _she thought to herself.

**"He sure did child," **said a deep, feminine voice.

_"Hello Ryuken, it's nice to talk again. We haven't spoken for a while," _she said to the demon. Ryuken wasn't a bad demon, and she and Yukiko both agreed with one another. In fact, the wolf demon had sort of grown fond of the girl over the past few years.

**"Shukaku is a horrid demon. I pity that human boy," **stated the wolf.

_"So do I. Even Kyuubi doesn't have that kind of effect on Naruto-kun. Do you think there's anything I can do?"_ asked Yukiko.

**"'I', child? I think you mean 'we'. If you can bring back that kit's sanity, which won't be easy mind you, I think I can reason with Shukaku," **Ryuken stated firmly.

_"I really appreciate this you know," _Yukiko told the demon.

**"I'm so soft it sickens me…" **said the wolf and Yuki laughed mentally.

"But Yukinon, everyone does hate Gaara," Sakura blurted out, breaking up the inner conversation between Yukiko.

Yukiko stood up, touching the hem of her short, black dress where Gaara's blood was now dry.

"Not everyone…" she told Sakura, walking towards Shikamaru and Naruto, "Not everyone hates him."

"But, I don't know of anyone that doesn't hate or fear Gaara. At least, anyone who knows him."

She stopped walking, and looked down, her short black hair fell past her forehead protector on top of her head. "I do," she informed them, "I don't hate Gaara, and I'm not afraid of him. I want…" she paused as she remembered hugging him to stop his bleeding back, "I want to show him… to show him that he doesn't need to hate everything, and that," She looked into Sakura's eyes, she was going to tell Naruto and Sakura her secret, and she was ready, "that not everything hates him. Can you and Ino come with me back to my house? I need help washing this outfit and putting my kit back together."

Sakura looked at her raven-haired friend, and believed every sorrowful word that came out of her mouth. She often noticed that Yuki's smile was happy, but heartbreaking at the same time.

"Yes, we'll come. Shikamaru-kun, we'll catch up later, ne?" Sakura stated as she walked towards Ino and Sakura.

"Whatever… this has been too troublesome," said Shikamaru, and readied himself to leave.

"We'll meet later at Ichiraku," said Ino, nodding. Then Shika disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Let's go to my apartment," Yukiko said breaking the silence. Sakura and Ino nodded, and within moments, they had packed up and reappeared in front of Yukiko's apartment.

Once inside, Yukiko motioned them for them to sit down. She told them to stay put and she'd be out once she got changed.

Yukiko padded into her room, and shut the door. She peeled off her bloodstained dress and threw it onto the floor, then unwrapped her now scarlet bandages revealing the hidden scars that she received from when she was beaten back at Kumogakure. She changed fast, still slightly nervous about telling her friends that she was the container for the two-tailed wolf youkai. If Naruto were here, he would have understand, but she was a little hesitant about Sakura and Ino. And if she told them, what would they do?

As she went to soak her previous worn cloths in a tub full of cold water, she looked at the dress once more.

The blood was dry and brown on her dress. She hugged to her chest, and promised herself.

"I will help Gaara… even if I die trying," she swore, and dropped the clothes into the tub. Yukiko sauntered out of her room, and sat down with her friends.

"There has been something," she began, avoiding eye contact with her friends, "that I have been meaning to tell you."

Both looked at her, and nodded to continue.

"Sixteen years ago, the village of Kumogakure was attacked by a demon. Ryuken, was a two-tailed wolf demon that killed many shinobi and it destroyed the village. Raikage Sandaime defeated the monster, and sealed her into a newborn baby."

She paused, and swallowed hard. Sakura and Ino still studied her, eyes never leaving her.

"That baby…was me," she confessed, "And when I was five… the ninjas of the village thought I had attacked two boys that were picking on me, so my sister and I were kicked out of the village. We fled to Kohona, but they found us and," she stopped and started to cry, "t-they killed my sister, a-and I got so mad I-I killed them using the p-power of Ryuken. From then on I loved myself and hated everything that came in contact with me.

I didn't know anything about ninjustu back then, but I also didn't know that when I killed… I used my mind to put dreadful images in their head, so horrible that they went insane and killed themselves. I was alone, and all I ever thought about was killing… until sensei came along.

"I remember sensei being the first person who I ever could trust again, but it took him a long time to gain my trust. He taught me how to fight shinobi style, and I learned many jutsus from him. He smiled and praised me, and treated me like I was his own. I had never felt so happy in my life. But soon after, the lightning-nin found me again. Sensei died protecting me… a-and he told me to go to his hometown of Kohona. So I ran away and fled to Kohona… the Hokage took me in, and I was enrolled in the ninja academy.

"That's why…" she said, wiping her face dry, "that's why I want to help Gaara-san, more than anything. I've felt pain before, and I don't want him to be lonely."

Sakura walked over to Yukiko and pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even know… that's why you didn't say he was a monster. I-I can't believe I said that, I didn't know, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Yukiko said hugging her, "It isn't. You don't have to be sorry for anything."

Ino looked at Yukiko, "I didn't even know. I couldn't tell… you're always so happy, and you hid it. You hid the pain just like-"

"there was nothing to hide at all? I'm sorry to shock you like this, but I couldn't keep it hidden much longer," she fessed, and stood up, "but we still gotta get to Ichiraku, ne? I mean, we did promise Shikamaru-kun."

"Right," said Sakura, and she smiled at her friend, "I'll meet you guys there, I have to go change. Ja ne."

As Sakura shut the door, Yukiko turned to Ino, "You should tell him."

Ino frowned and looked puzzled at Yukiko's suggestion, "Tell him what?"

Yukiko stood up and walked slowly back to her room, deciding to finish cleaning her clothes that were soaking in the tub. She turned to Ino as she cracked the door open, "That you care about him," she stated.

"But how did-"

"I know?" she finished for him, looking him in the eye, "You're just like Sakura-chan. Constantly covering up your feelings with a fake love for Sasuke. But now he's gone. Its only been two months since Naruto left with Jiraya-sama, and she's been pining for him ever since. Tell Shikamaru you're true feelings."

"How did you you ever come up with something like that? I don't like Shikamaru! Not like that!" Ino got up, and left Yukiko's apartment, muttering something about meddling friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The night sky was filled with the light from the full moon. The trail of moonfire flowers that Gaara had left unfolded and bloomed: soaking in every bit of the moonlight. Gaara no longer limped as he continued walking through the forest. Moments later, he became aware of the area he was drawing in on.

"Kohona village," he stated, drawing closer to the walls that surrounded it. Walls were no issue for Gaara, but why was he so suddenly obsessed just to see that girl again? Gaara scaled the wall with little effort, and hid from the guard shinobi. As he hopped from roof to roof, he spotted something.

It was her.

Gaara stopped on the roof he was on, and peered at the girl, studying her face. Her expression seemed saddened slightly, but she kept smiling. He could not but help himself to take interest in the girl. She had bandaged his wounds even though she knew she could die – a sign of courage, compassion. Still, he pondered whether to reveal himself or not.

"G-gaara-san?"

Too late.

**Woosh. **Not even seconds and she was up on the roof beaming at him. She fiddled with her hands, and looked down nervously, blushing.

"Hello Gaara-san," she said smiling, reaching out to shake hands – he didn't. She let her hand drop to her side and let her fingers fiddle – somewhat like when Hinata was nervous.

This was pointless, even if the girl was intriguing; he had better things to do. He turned around and started to walk away.

"W-wait!" she stammered, calling out to him. He continued to walk, hopping to the next room casually. She ran after him, and grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Please wait," she mumbled.

Gaara turned around and stared at her. Her eyes were a bold violet color, though why he noticed it was a complete mystery to him.

Still holding his hand, she spoke up: "Um. I was on my way to Ichiraku, it's a ramen place, and a few of my friends and I are going to eat there. Do you want to eat with us? I'm treating."

"No," he said instantly and turned to leave but she held onto his hand. Her hands were firm, and unusually warm. Why did he do that? He needn't bother with petty answers; he shouldn't have even come here in the first place.

"Please?" she asked, flushing slightly, looking into his eyes desperately. _"Please Gaara-san, this is the only way. I want to know the real you."_

Gaara felt her hands pressed against his, he felt sick again. Ripping his hand free from her grasp, he stalked off faster. A few roofs later, he heard her footsteps padding across the shingles.

"Please Gaara-san!"

"No."

"Why not?" she called to him, he still scaled further. This was going to delay her from Ichiraku for a while, no matter.

"Because I said no." Stupid argument, pointless, why was he bothering? She continued following him to the outskirts of Konoha, and then into the forest.

"Gaara-san, please! Just one bowl? You don't even need to talk! In fact, I'll get you a bowl and you can eat privately. Please?"

Gaara was now officially pissed; he proceeded to turn around, "For the last time, I said-"

"Omph."

Being the klutz that she was, Yukiko knocked into Gaara, and knocked him flat on his back. Not only that, she went down right with him. Sprawled out on the ground was Gaara, and Yukiko was right on top of him. Her heartbeat tripled in speed, partly from fear that she'll be dead in less than five seconds, and partly from the fact that his chest was so soft and warm. She could smell the earth; it was wonderful. Gaara even had a few leaves stuck in his mahogany hair. She would have giggled, but it probably would have pissed him off even further, then she would have had to have a painful AND slow death.

"Please." Ok, now she was dead, "I'm not getting off of you until you say "yes"." Now she was beyond dead, she was dead with slow pain, dead on dead, dead in the worst way possible, ever in the history of deaths by Gaara.

Gaara turned his head away glaring: "Fine." He said bitterly.

Yukiko gasped, restraining herself from hugging him, and pissing him off even further. She hopped off him and offered him a hand; he passed it and just stood up. Yukiko jumped up and down madly and Gaara turned back to the village, sighing.

Gaara mentally cursed himself for agreeing to go to the ramen bar with the girl. Then again, what did he really have to do? Nothing better. But he didn't bother with pointless wenches like this. Still, it was a free meal, and even this wench…

Gaara paused in his step, and Yukiko bumped into him again.

_"What a clumsy girl." _His monotone thoughts told him.

The girl reappeared in front of him beaming: "Is something wrong Gaara-san?"

He walked past her casually. "Watch where you're walking girl"

"Um… I'm Yukiko, Gaara-san," she stated. He turned back to her.

_"Crap! I shouldn't have done that!" _she snapped mentally.

"Tch. Yukiko, watch where you walk. You're going to end up walking into a tree," he stated, and then continued walking.

Yukiko paused. _"Did he actually… was Gaara actually trying to be-"_

"Are you coming?" He said, glancing back at her.

_"nice?" _"Hai." She called back at him and walked behind him as they walked to the Ichiraku.

Fin. Ok. Me like reviews. Thankies. Much luv.

- Saikyou


	3. What it means to be a vessle

Warning: Later chapters will contain spoilers.

Chapter 3: What it means to be a vessel

The night was lit by the full moon, and the forest's occupants basked in the moonlight. Everything was silent and still. The only noise that echoed through the area were the sounds of footsteps made by Gaara and Yukiko. Yukiko thoughts wandered in different areas as she and Gaara walked towards the Ichiraku. She thought of when she had first met Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun. It was shortly after the chunin exams, and then Sakura introduced her to Ino-chan and Shika-kun later. She knew Sakura best though, considering they were both studying under Tsunade-sama, although Yukiko had studied under her ever since she had reached Konoha.

Gaara's head remained pretty much empty as they walked through the streets of Konoha. Now and then he would see a few people outside, only to disperse at the sight of the pair, then reappear when the had left them far behind. Now and every then he had to remind himself that this was a free meal, and that he didn't need to kill everything in his path (a well learned lessons taught to him by Naruto).

No words were really exchanged between the pair as they walked back through the gates, into the village and with every step closer to the Ichiraku. A few blocks away, Yukiko decided to break the silence.

"So… Gaara-san, what do you do for fun?" She questioned, quickening her pace so she walked next to him. She had decided that if Gaara hadn't slaughtered her for falling on him, she was probably safe with a few questions.

"I don't do fun," he put flatly. Was a free meal really worth the aggravation? Gaara wasn't sure.

"Um, ok then," she mumbled slightly, "what do you like to eat then?"

_"Feh. She asks a lot of questions."_

"Ground liver and salted tongue," he stated. A slight tone of irritation laced his voice.

"That's nice," she replied shakily.

_"Huh… that's kinda gross. But then again, it's really not for me to judge…" _she thought to herself.

More silence. Look Gaara up in a dictionary and you'd probably find him defined as "anti-social" she thought. "Do you even like ramen?"

_"Hello? Why the heck would he come in the first place if he didn't? It's not like he'd come just to be with me…" _she told herself.

"Eh."

_"I guess that means 'yes"…" _"What flavor?"

Gaara stopped walking, and then turned to her: "You ask too many questions. Are you purposefully trying to irritate me? I don't have to do this."

"ACK! Sorry!" She squealed flailing her arms in emphasis. She stopped flailing and let her hands fiddle in nervousness, "it's just that I want to get to know you better Gaara-san."

"Keh." _"'I want to get to know you better Gaara-san.' Damn, no one's ever said that to me before… "_

"Just stop asking me all these damn questions," he scoffed, continuing to stride the way they were going. He looked down, hands in his pockets, and kicked a rock that was next to his foot. It scattered across the dirt road and hit a pole.

"Ok."

Not even a few steps later, Gaara spoke up: "I like beef ramen."

Yukiko beamed uncontrollably. A hop in her step stayed all the way until they reached the ramen shop.

The heavenly scent of homemade ramen drifted surrounded the area of the shop. As the two youths entered the shop, they noticed that it seemed almost vacant with the exception of Yukiko's party, and an old man nodding off in the corner.

"Konbanwa," greeted Yukiko and the three teens turned to her calling. Sakura forced a smile, the kinda twichy smile that she often gave to Naruto in her earlier times with him. Shikamaru remained expressionless and Ino just stared.

Yukiko parked herself next to Sakura and Gaara sat next to Yukiko. The ramen bar tender waddled over to the new arrivals to take their order – completely unaware of whom Gaara was.

"What'll it be?"

"I'll have some miso ramen please," Yukiko said. Gaara was bent over on the counter, hands laced and elbows propped up. The attendant then turned to Gaara: "And how 'bout you?"

Gaara remained silent. He shifted his eyes towards Yukiko: an indication that she should order for him.

"Um. He'll have beef flavored," she indicated. She looked at Gaara to make sure that he was ok with her answer. He nodded his head ever so slightly, and she nodded back.

"Right then, it'll be a few minutes," said the employee.

"Thank you," she noted, and the bar tender disappeared back into the depths of the shop.

Sakura, with her meal already ordered, set her chopsticks down next to her bowl. "If you'll excuse us for a moment…" she declared, grabbing Yukiko by the wrist and hauling her towards the bathrooms, "be back in a second!"

As the bathroom door shut behind the two girls, Sakura turned to Yukiko. "Yun-chan, how the hell did you get him here?"

**Shannaro, Yukikon! What the f$# did you do! Enchant HIM? Threaten him! ANSWER ME DAMNIT! **Snarled Inner-Sakura.

A leaky faucet in the corner of the bathroom dripped ever few seconds.

**Drip**

"I saw him. He was on top of my apartment roof. I really didn't want to ignore him, so I kinda jumped to the roof and asked him if he wanted to come with me. He said no at first so then I followed him until he said yes," she explicated, twisting several locks of her hair in frustration.

**Drip**

"Are you crazy! You could have pissed him off to the point that he would have slain you!" She fumed.

"But he didn't," she retorted cockily, "he came. I think he likes me."

"I think you're nuts!"

**And a few other things considering you've suddenly found a fetish for psychopathic insomniac red heads! **Inner-Sakura added.

"Oh come on, Sakura-chan! He's not all that bad! I even got him to talk to me," she stated.

_"Well it was only a few sentences, but at least he talked," _she affirmed.

"Still! There's no need to purposefully put yourself in danger like that! I realize that you have this whole connection thing going on here, but if this is going to keep happening every time you try to get close to him, it has to stop. And if you decide to pull another stunt like this again, make sure that someone is with you next time!"

Yukiko stared down at the floor. It was dirty, bare, and cracked. The bathroom itself wasn't all too charming either. Rose colored wallpaper dangled from loss of adherence, several mirrors were cracked, and the only source of light came from a dingy bulb hanging from the ceiling that flickered every once in a while.

"I'm going back," mumbled Yukiko and exited the bathroom. Sakura let a groan escape her lips as she trailed behind her slightly insane friend.

Yukiko reseated herself next to Gaara. A steamy bowl of miso ramen had been placed on the counter in front of the seat. She glanced over at Gaara, who was already eating his meal silently.

Inhaling sharply, she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and proceeded to consume her meal. Thought tonight it didn't taste as good as on other nights. Not even halfway through her eating session, Shikamaru and Ino left: both having finished long before she had even arrived. It was then that only Sakura accompanied the pair.

Not a word was uttered as the three devoured the food. Gaara finished first, and then stood up to take leave. With the little ramen she had in her bowl, Yukiko wolfed the remainder down, paid for all the ramen, and followed Gaara out, in contrast to Sakura's cries of protest.

Gaara was fully aware of Yukiko's presence as he strayed to the outer reaches of Konoha. Apparently, consuming a bowl of ramen wasn't enough to appease the girl.

"What do you want from me?" he called back to her. Gaara was aggravated and had enough of this nonsense.

They had only just met the border of the village. The moon hung higher in the night's sky, and the air was damp and cold. Many clouds that had not been there before hand drifted aimlessly in the dark heavens.

"To talk," she proclaimed, walking up besides him as he crossed over the bridge, "and to befriend you."

Gaara ceased walking, turned, and glowered at her, "I don't need friends. I don't need anyone."

She merely looked in to his gaze, and he glared more intensely. It puzzled him that she didn't show any sign of fear or remorse, and that her stare was filled with intellect and compassion. The sky above stirred, clouds shifting over the shinning orb that light the night. It became dark.

"Everyone needs someone," she told knowingly.

This time, Gaara snapped, " You don't know a thing do you! I never had anyone and I never will! I am a tool, a container, possessed by Shukaku. You don't understand the meaning of that! Now leave me be or I will slay you!"

Yukiko never averted her eyes, nor did she looser her calm sense of being. She reached out and laid her hand gently on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch, and ripped himself away.

Her hand dropped at her side, and she spoke with a kindhearted voice: "From the moment I came into contact with you, you attempted to kill me, but you did not. I am fully aware that you don't want to Gaara-san," Gaara was shocked by her words, "furthermore, I realize that I could never understand the feeling of possession or insomnia, but I know the agony of being a vessel of a monster, because I too carry one inside me. The two tailed wolf demon, Ryuken."

Gaara stared at her, now apprehending the immense chakra that designated the seal. It was an honest declaration: this girl was indeed a host for a demon. She was more like him than he had bothered to see.

Gaara fled, retreating back into the depths of the forest. Unaware of his desire that he would encounter her again.

Yukiko's feet gave, and descended to the ground. Her eyes overflowed with tears.

"It hurts…"

**Plit**

"To care about someone you know so little about."

**Plit**

The sounds of her falling tears mixed together with the rain that slowly descended from the sky. It grew steady, and she felt her emotions being washed away by the harmonious rhythm of the rain.

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"She's going to end up dead. I'm positive. You agree, ne?"

Shikamaru and Ino walked through Konoha after just leaving the Ichiraku. Both were heading towards their houses that were not to far apart from each other. Ino continued to make conversation as the sky above them stirred.

"Are you listening Shika?"

"Eh? Yeah, whatever," replied Shikamaru casually. _"Best not to argue with Ino, she can put up some real troublesome fights." _Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed deeply – this was going to be one long walk home.

"Like I said, Yukiko-chan needs to be more careful. She can't go running off after angst filled boys like that. She's going to get her heart broken, and maybe a few other things," Ino assured.

Shika opened one eye and rested it on Ino. Her short, straw colored hair fluttered slightly in the wind. Her cheeks somewhat flushed from the brisk temperature outside.

"So you're saying you don't like depressed boys like Sasuke?" he questioned. _"Eh, hold on a second. Why am I comparing this to him? And why am I indirectly asking Ino if she still likes him?" _Shikamaru's eyes wandered in search of answer, all the way down to Ino's butt. He caught himself, and averted his eyes quickly, remembering that he wouldn't find an answer down there.

_"Though it was nice to look at. Crap, did I just think that? Ack, bad mind, bad mind."_

"Why do you ask?" Ino shot back at him.

Shika again looked away from Ino: "It's probably going to rain soon."

"Don't change the subject!" She snapped at him, "Answer me!"

"You first," he said, turning back to her, "I asked first, therefore I had every right to change the subject."

Ino folded her arms and pouted, sulking for a few minutes as they continued to walk. It wore of shortly, and she unfolded her arms.

"No, I don't like Sasuke anymore if that's what you're wondering," she admitted. He stopped walking and turned to her, meeting her gaze. She was flushing more than she was before. Shikamaru focused on her, trying to analyze the meaning behind her blue eyes. Sky blue. The kind of blue that you found in perfect days of cloud watching. But he was lost at the very first sight of them.

"Are you going to answer my question now?" She asked shyly.

_"Since when was she this mature?"_

"I um… er-"

Lacking any sign that it would, the rain came pouring down in a heartbeat. Shikamaru automatically took off his jacket, and wrapped it over Ino. The two raced through the wet, muddy roads, and met Ino's house within moments.

Panting and soaking, they stood underneath the awning above the door. Shikamaru was completely soaked, and Ino was vaguely damp. She looked up at the man standing besides her.

"Why did you do that? You're completely soaked, and now you'll probably catch a cold," she stated as she reached into her pockets for her keys.

"I don't know… I just did. Did you have a problem with that?" he gasped, wiping the water from his face.

"N-no," she stuttered. Ino recollected herself for a brief moment, "Do you want to come in? You can warm up and dry off so you don't catch a cold."

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

_"That's just like him to try and act macho. It's kind of cute… NANI? What the heck is wrong with my head today?"_

She gazed at him again. His hair was coming out of the ponytail that he always wore, and the loose strands were plastered against his face. He was shaking slightly from the cool air of the night. She had never realized how tall he actually had gotten…

"Are you sure?" she found herself asking.

"Yeah, I'll live," he said smirking, and with that, he turned to leave.

_"WAIT!" _her mind screamed. He had forgotten his coat, but that was not the only reason for her inner cry, and even Shikamaru wasn't smart enough to read thoughts. So she stood there, pleading inside her head for him to come back. And as he drifted farther and farther into the steady rain, he thought one simple thought.

_"I gave my jacket to you Ino, because I simply wanted to." _He contemplated as he strolled through the downpour, _"I needed to protect a delicate flower from the heavy rain and wind."_

Ino sighed, unlocked the front door, and walked in; huddling under the protective jacket.

_"My delicate flower."_

Eh, eh, you like? If you likith, please review… ith. Yeah ok, i'm desperate for reviews… and flames… (dang I never thought I'd say that)

Pwease review for the Gaara!

Gaara: (makes super cute puppy face) PLEAAASE?

YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T RESIST THE FACE!


	4. When one gets sick

Thanks very much to all who reviewed, though hardly anyone did. (Insert sobbing author) and without further a due, here is chapter four!

Chapter four: When one gets sick

"Atchoo."

"_Why did he run away?"_

"Atchoo!"

"_Ugh… I can't breathe through my nose."_

"ATCHOO!"

Yukiko's sneezing spasms stopped as she broke out into a fit of coughs. She sighed, snuggling into the warm depths of her covers. It had been two days since her encounter with Gaara. Hours after he had ran off, Sakura found her in the rain crying. She had a complete fit telling Yukiko how she looked everywhere for her, and that she was stupid because she didn't have enough sense to get out of the rain. The exposure to the wind and weather had dealt her a wonderful cold, and her fever hasn't broken since.

"Yun-chan, your soup is done!" called a distant voice outside the bedroom. The door creaked open and Sakura walked in carrying a tray with a steamy bowl of chicken noodle soup balanced on it.

"Mmm," she mumbled and forced her fatigued body into a sitting position. Sakura gently propped the tray up over her lap, and pulled a chair to her bedside.

Yukiko's room was separate from the remainder of her apartment, and was painted a deep shade of lavender. Her bed sheets were silky and black, and the pillows were fluffy and milky white. Near the entrance to her bathroom was a small vanity and dresser. The chair that Sakura had just moved used to rest in front of the vanity.

"I can't believe you, standing out in the rain! How could you be so careless? Getting sick is not worth any boy."

"_Maybe not any boy but this boy is definitely worth a hundred colds."_

"Its just a small cold, there's really nothing to worry about!" assured Yukiko beaming hesitantly.

"ATCHOOOOO!"

A gale of sneeze sent chicken broth and overcooked noodles flying, which shortly splattered onto Sakura's face. Sakura twitched as Yukiko stifled nervous laughter. She pawed at the napkin on the tray and began to wipe off Yukiko's meal.

"I rest my case. Now eat the food: I already took a shower today, I don't need a second one."

"H-hai," Yukiko stammered flushing slightly, and reached for the spoon with her right hand.

A wave of dismay swept over her as she looked at her wrist.

It was bare.

Flashback

"Yukiko-chan," gasped a young woman of 27. Seven-year-old Yukiko rushed over to her side sobbing uncontrollably.

"Sensei! Kanade-sensei," she bawled, dropping to her knees and taking her dying teachers hand, "please!"

"Oh my Yuki-chan," she said warmly, "I killed of the last of the assassins. They're all gone."

**Cough. **A stream of blood trickled down the woman's bluing lips. Her long, matted brown hair catching the droplets of the crimson waterfall.

"Follow the trail, you will reach Konohagakure, my home town, in two days. Tell them that you are Sarutobi's apprentice, and ask for Tsunade-sama, she will be able to continue training and train you well. Then you will become a true ninja."

Another coughing convulsion of blood aroused in the woman. Kanade lifted her arm and tugged the glittering band on her right wrist. She smiled and tucked the precious bangle into Yukiko's small hands.

"This is-"

"My bracelet," she finished, smiling with pain, "It was passed down in my family from generation to generation. Take it, and keep it safe. Bear the name of the Sarutobi clan well."

"DON'T LEAVE ME!" she howled, hugging her teacher's cold body. A gentle hand rested upon her head comfortingly.

"You will always be in my eyes, my beloved daughter."

And with those words, she let go of her very last breath.

End Flashback

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she recalled that distressing day.

"ACK! Yuki-chan, GOMEN-NASAIIIIII! You-don't-have-to-eat-if-you-don-"

"I lost Kanade-sensei's bracelet!" she wailed, hugging her sheets and sobbing.

_"Kanade-sensei?" _wandered Sakura ash she touched her friends shoulder with sympathy.

"Yukinon, tell me about the bracelet."

_"Maybe its not that big of a deal, I mean it might just be the effects of the cold."_

Yukiko wiped her face with her forearm and shivered, "My sensei gave me that bracelet to me on her death bed," she said bitterly.

_"Okaaaay, so it is a big deal."_

"Tell me, what does it look like?" she inquired calmly. Sakura was astonished that she had never noticed it before.

"It's a gold band," she explained, closing her eyes and swallowing, "and attached to it is a raven charm, made from a pale blue glass."

Sakura stood up, lifted the tray off the bed and set the bowl of half-eaten soup on the nightstand. She then eased Yukiko to lie down.

"I will go and find Ino," she told her sweetly, pulling the covers over her sickly body, "and together we will go look for your bracelet."

"Uh-huh," she squeaked, nodding sleepily. She shut her eyes and relaxed her tense body.

"Now get some sleep."

And she did just that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why am I here?"

As if expecting an answer, Sabaku no Gaara stood on the worn bridge: arms folded, blank expression. It had been raining all of the previous day, and today it had ceased, perfect for him to go walking with out getting wet.

_"Everyone needs someone."_

Gaara growled and bit his lip. Why was he remembering what the girl had told him now?

_"-you tried to kill me, but you didn't. I am fully aware that-"_

_"Stop."_

_"I know the pain-"_

_"Stop!"_

_"-because I carry one inside me."_

"Don't say anymore."

_"Gaara-san!"_

"I DON'T HATE YOU!" he bellowed. A flock of birds that were previously perched scattered across the late morning's sky. Gaara inhaled slowly: he finally admitted that he didn't hate the girl… Yukiko, that was her name. But he wasn't so sure if he could completely trust her.

"Huh?"

A ray of light caught his attention. He walked smoothly towards the glint, and knelt beside the object that had cast it.

A tiny gold band lay on top of the bridge floor. It was slightly worn from the rain, and had a little pale blue glass charm in the shape of a bird on it.

Gaara picked it up and studied it. It seemed somewhat… familiar. He dangled it and the object caught his eyes in a ray of gold. And then it hit him.

"This is-"

A mental image of Yukiko's hand on top of his flashed though his mind – no doubt it was hers. But there was still one dilemma – was he supposed to return it to her.

_"Its nothing. I bet she doesn't even miss It." _He told himself.

"Still." He glanced at the piece of jewelry again – from what he could deduce about it was that it looked very old fashioned, and very expensive.

Gaara sighed, pocketed it, and started to walk in the direction of Yukiko's apartment.

…

Sakura walked rapidly down the road ash she maneuvered towards Ino's house.

"**On a missions, on a mission to saaave yun-chan's bracelet, on a-"**

_"Will you stop singing?" _Great, now she was talking to herself.

"**Hmph", **growled inner Sakura, "**I never get to have any fun."**

"On a mission, on a missiooooon," she sang quietly under her breath.

Gaara coincidently, happened to be strolling down the exact same street. He however, was chanting something completely different in his head.

_"I'm just returning the bracelet, I'm just returning it, just returning it."_

"On a mission-hey! On a-"

"-just-"

**THOCK – **red head knocks elbows with pink head.

"Sorry I- its you." She said menacingly. Sakura angrily pointed her finger at him and jabbed it in his face.

"You hurt Yukiko-chan's feelings making her stay out in the rain and catch a bad cold!" She instantaneously clamped her hands over her mouth.

_"She's…sick?" _

_"Crap. He's gonna kill me," _she though shaking.

Sakura sprinted away screaming.

"NOOOOOOO! He's gonna KILL meeeeee!"

_"She's sick," _he thought miserably. He pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and gazed at it.

_"It's-"_

**Clench**

_"- my fault."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

**Knock Knock**

Gaara stood in the doorway patiently waiting for Yukiko to answer the door.

She didn't.

_"Perhaps I should…let myself in."_

The images of Yukiko undressing and or attacking him with a frying pan for breaking entry flashed through his mind.

_"I can wait a little, I'm not in a rush."_

Gaara knocked once more. Several minutes later, the door… still wasn't answered. He shook of the idea of being hit with a kitchen utensil, turned the doorknob, and let himself in.

The entrance of the apartment was a small kitchen with pale blue paint. Its contents were that of a standard kitchen: table, fridge counter, and stove. The room then sort of bled into the living room that was panted with a jade green. An old sofa, a rugged chair, a bookcase, a desk, and a lamp sat in their places silently. Yukiko wasn't to be found in either area, so he walked into the living space.

He quickly spotted another door. Carefully, he turned the knob. It swung open gently, and he stepped in.

There she was, sleeping in her bed. He hesitated for a moment, then walked up to her bedside.

_"Is she really…"_

Temperature check. Gaara touched his palm to her forehead. It burned on contact, and he sighed. Withdrawing his hand, he gazed at her sleeping face.

"Gaara-san."

Gaara jumped – an unusual sight to see considering he was almost always on his guard, about three feet into the air from the spontaneous calling of his name. Yukiko extended her arm from out of the cover, dropped it, and turned slightly.

_"Why is she calling my name in her sleep?" _he thought, relieved that she hadn't woken up.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out what he had come to return. Prying her hand open gently, he placed it there, and then closed her hand, allowing his to cover hers for a few moments. And then he took his leave, closing the door behind him.

"Huh?"

Yukiko stirred, she felt the coolness of metal in her grasp. Sitting up, she opened her hand, and what she saw rendered her speechless.

"My bracelet!"

Well… sort of.

"But who?"

Yukiko's ears caught the noise of a door slam. She hopped out of bed, and walked quickly out of her room, past the kitchen, an swung open the front door.

The outside was slightly chill, and she shivered. She glanced to her right, nothing. And then to her left, and caught a certain person with a gourd (so totally not obvious…) attached to his back running of in the distance. She looked back at her bracelet, and then the person who returned it, and beamed.

"Gaara."

Yukiko sauntered back to her bedroom, and nested under her covers. A heavy weight had just been lifted off her chest and she was feeling much better already.

_"Thank you."_

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For the passing days, Gaara returned to watch over Yukiko for a few hours or so. He managed to spot the window that hung over her bed. Though one thing had seemed to trouble him…

"Is this stalking?"

Gaara sat on the windowsill cautiously as questioned himself. Wasn't watching her being some sort of stalking hentai? What if he had caught her undress-"

"No."

Gaara shook his head to rid himself of the thought. But it was too late; the picture was already burned, etched, inside his little 14-year-old mind. He growled at his good-for-nothing pictographic memory.

"Oh damn…" said a feminine voice.

_"Who was that?" _Gaara looked around briefly – on one was to be found.

"-oh well," said the same voice, Gaara perked up once again.

"_I think I know that voice…**her **friend. What was that girl's name again? Sakuro? Saraku?" _he couldn't remember.

"I'll just use Yukiko-chan's trash can in the back, I'm sure she won't mind."

"_Aw hell."_

Haruno Sakura walked to the back of her friend's house to throw away her empty pop can, and met a pair of nervous panda eyes.

Stare.

"HENTAI!" She screeched launching herself at him.

"Uh, Wait! I can explain I-"

**WHAM! **Sakura's fist made perfect contact with Gaara's face, sending him toppling backwards. He lay on the ground sprawled out as she cracked her knuckles.

"I don't give a fuck if it's you – I detest all perverts."

"**Shannaro."**

"YOU ARE GOING DOWN, YA HEAR?"

"**SHANNARO!"**

"Eh?" called a third voice.

Both Sakura and Gaara glanced at the window. The instantly dropped to the ground as Yukiko sat up rubbing her eyes. The sleepy girl poked her head out the open window, looking left and right.

"Is someone there?"

Sakura tried to call out, but Gaara enveloped his hand over her mouth. As Yukiko shrugged and lay back down in her bed, Sakura fought back.

**Chomp!**

"Gah!" Gaara drew his hand back, and quickly scaled all the way up to the rooftop.

"I was eventually going to let go, you crazy bitch!" Gaara snapped at her, "And I'm no pervert."

And with those words of wisdom, Gaara took off.

"_Crazy Bitch! What right does that psycho bastard have to call me a crazy bitch!" _She growled mentally, though she was alleviated that Gaara didn't kill her, or Yukiko, or try to do something else bad to them.

As Gaara reached the forest, he slowed down, walking instead of running. He sat down, leaning against a tree. He slid down the surface of the rough twisted bark, releasing the stress inside him with a good sigh.

"This girl, Yukiko," he told himself out loud, running his hand over the moist grass, "I think, maybe… that I can allow myself-"

He calmly ran his fingers through his head, and allowed his face to form a small smile.

"To trust her."

Yay! Another chapter done. Now all I ask of thee is that thee review for the sake of the cute panda eyed hunny.

Gaara: Onegaiishimasu?

Awww, look he said please. Please? PLLLEAAAHEHEASZZZE! (sob sob, wail wail, cry) WATASHI NO DESPERATU!

This has been another public service announcement from your author (beams)

Ja ne


	5. Do you want rice with that?

Chapter Five: Do you want rice with that?

"What a beautiful morning!"

Yukiko stood outside her apartment door and smiled. The warm, damp air was comforting to her. She stretched, overwhelmed with happiness that her cold had gone away, and gazed upward.

The sun hung low in the azure sky and painted it with bright colors of orange, pink, yellow, red, and purple. Brushing the ecstasy of colors were milky clouds, their would-be white bodies daubed over with hues of violet and deep blue. A gentle breeze ruffled her charcoal hair; the light from the sun gleamed in her amethyst eyes.

The world around her hung thick with silence. She stifled a yawn, and grasped the icy hilt of her katana. It was a good morning to train, and without glancing back, she headed off for her training area.

The training area was a small clearing in the dense forest near the bridge. Her journey was quiet. She passed by dozens of shops that sold a various range of items from shinobi tools to stuffed animals. Her pack swished with a dull sound. It was not very heavy considering its contents were a first aid kit, a blanket, two warm, golden brown croissants fresh from her own oven, a small jar of strawberry jam, and an empty canteen.

She stopped at the river to fill the canteen from her pack. The rushing water was cool and clear as it washed over her hands. She took a sip and enjoyed the sensation of the icy chilled liquid trickling down her throat. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and capped the container, tossing it into her pack.

Yukiko reached her destination within fifteen minutes of the bridge. She swung the pack off her shoulder and let it drop against a tree. She then began to stretch – her arms, legs, torso, and back were pulled and pushed into flexing positions to awaken her stiff muscles. The ritual continued for at least ten minutes. She was completely unaware that it was two days after Gaara and Sakura encountered behind her house, and he hadn't come back since.

Carefully, Yukiko lowered herself to the ground into a lotus position. She loved mediation; it was most relaxing. The girl closed her eyes and slowly drifted into the state of being where one felt in touch with the flow of the world: simply amazing.

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Gaara ambled through the forest for the pure pleasure of it. The woods were silent, no noise pollution from the annoying people to corrupt his thoughts. His walk, however, was abruptly interrupted.

"Chakra," he noted out loud. Gaara had picked up on the beings chakra like a dog picked up on the scent of a steak. Slightly curious, he followed the well up of chakra, seeking his point of origin. Five minutes passed, and he came upon a small clearing.

And there she was.

Yukiko swung her blade in a dance like state: plunging and slashing the katana ever so gracefully into invisible enemies. A thin layer of sweat enveloped in her body. Her heart beat in harmonious rhythm with the singing of her blade. Gaara was immediately entranced by her swordplay.

She was like a butterfly, elegant and poise in the air, landing on every flower ever so gently. One last slash of the sword and then she sheathed it.

Gaara snapped out of the trance – the dance was over, but that was hardly enough to pry his eyes away from what she did next.

Yukiko was terribly hot. Grateful that she had put on shorts today rather than her normal cloth wraps, she peeled off her dress to reveal her bound chest, which was enfolded carefully with a long strip of white cloth that covered from the top of her chest to two inches above her navel.

This was definitely stalking, he thought as he wiped away the seep of blood from his nose. Ignoring the fact that Yukiko was half-naked and sweating, which he, to his astonishment, was more difficult than he thought it was, he noticed her back.

It was scarred. Long, deep scars ran down her back. The lines traced out one kanji symbol: akuma (demon). His breath froze; there was no possible way that she could have done it herself, like he had. This was clearly the marking of someone else's hatred. And yet, here she was… still smiling.

Yukiko beamed – time to climb trees. Climbing trees using only your feet was an ideal way to maintain your chakra levels. She formed a hand seal, and focused her chakra. Perfect. Yukiko walked over to a tall pine, and began to walk up it. A simple task, but effective none-the-less.

Without warning, an unusual feeling of something falling on her shoulder befell her. She craned her neck – a Konoha leech was perched daintily on it. Now mind you, Yukiko was a perfectly calm individual. However, there was one teeny, tiny, problem.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She was deathly afraid of leeches.

The sound of feet loosing chakra adherence on a tree, which was kinda like a popping noise, echoed through the woods. Gaara instantaneously rushed over. She had started to fall at least 25 feet up; just enough to break something. He made it in time, partly caught her, and fell over.

**Thwump! **

"Ow…" he groaned.

"That voice…" 

Yukiko forced open her eyes.She was on top of Gaara – again. It was even worse than the first time. The two were nose-to-nose, forehead-to-forehead, body on body. A subtle blushswept her cheeks as his eyes fluttered open.

"This seems… oddly familiar," Gaara said dryly with a hint of humor in his voice. Yukiko practically leaped off of him, landing in a kneeling position, and he sat himself up.

"I'm really, really, _really_ sorry!" she squeaked, bowing over and over in her sitting position, "you see, I got distracted when a leech fell on my shoulder, I'm deathly afra-"

"You mean that one?" he inquired with a deadpan face, pointing at her left shoulder. She craned her neck once more only to come face-to-face with the leech – again.

"EEIYAAA! GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITOFF-GETITO-"

**Poke.**

Gaara's finger came into contact with her forehead. The gesture completely confounded her. The mahogany-haired youth leaned his face in close to hers.

"Don't move."

"H-hai," she stammered.

"Focus on me. Watch my eyes: don't look away."

She did as she was told. Yukiko gazed into his eyes, and flushed an even brighter red. Most people found his eyes to be "spooky" or unattractive, but she was the contradictory to popular belief.

First off, his eyes were a unique and striking pale green, unlike any eye color she had seen before. The black circles around them from lack of sleep, at least what she considered, gave the impression of a panda bear.

Cute. Sexy. Very sexy. So sexy tha-

"Gone."

"Huh?"

"The leech is **gone**; you're "safe" now," he stated more firmly, dragging her back into the depths of reality.

She shook her head, "That's not fair – you tricked me!" she protested, her cheeks full of crimson embarrassment. Well, what _was_ she supposed to say? "Gaara-chan, your eyes are like a panda's, it turns me on"?

"_Yeah, that'll boil over well…"_

"It worked, didn't it?" he questioned. For a split second, the thin line that separated his lips curved upward in a miniscule amount.

"_Did he…just smile?"_

"Well I suppose it did… HEY! WAIT A SEC! You were spying on me you letch!" She barked angrily, covering her already covered chest. Stomping over to her dress, Yukiko picked it up and motioned for him to turn around – which he did without further indication of any sort.

"_At least she didn't slap me… or punch me,"_ he told himself, recalling the distasteful encounter with Sakura. An image of the scar surfaced to the peak of his mind again. He shook his head briskly, and then held it in his hand.

"Tell me something…" he said sternly, leaning his head against the tree trunk, and revealing an eye by parting his fingers ever so faintly. Yukiko stood behind the tree pulling on her dress, "how did you come to… obtain… that scar on your back?"

Yukiko flinched and froze, dress already clinging to the curves of her body. Shivers ran down her spine; a lump stuck in her throat. She tried to swallow, it wouldn't go down.

"You…saw it?

"_A symbol of my worthlessness."_

"Yeah."

The raven-haired girl slid down the side of the tree. The pine was a barrier preventing the two from being back-to-back with each other. She drew up her knees to her chest, and hugged them. Yukiko buried her head into her knees; a gust of wind flounced over the forest that late morning.

"I was five," she said emotionlessly, tightening her grip. She spoke with high detail and intensity, but with a reverie like state, "And it was shortly after my sister and I were exiled from the village. You see, before I came to Konoha, I resided in Kumogakure. Well, that very day, we were ambushed by a hoard of kumo nin. Their objective was to wipe me out, but that wasn't enough. The male nin wanted a little fun first – they wanted to 'play' with me. As they aproched, my sister shifted in front of me."

"She told them that she'd die before they even laid a finger on me. So the shinobi took her instead," tears streamed down her cheeks. She choked back uncontainable sobs, "And then, they grabbed me by the shoulders, and forced my eyes open. I helplessly stood there, watching each man defile her over and over again. And after that t-they," she let out an immense cry, "k-killed her! It is my entire fault: I wasn't strong enough. The shinobi were after me – not her! But then they did go after me. One man reached out to touch me and I bit him. The ninja that gripped my shoulders thrust me into the ground. I couldn't see, but I felt the steel cut into my flesh swiftly and numerously on my back. That's when the rage took over – I suddenly lusted for their blood. I, unintentionally formed a hand seal, and released the combined chakra of the Gobi no Sokou. Each body imploded in a symphony of lightning and thunder: it soaked me in blood. And you know what I did?"

Gaara's insides burned with anger, empathy, and remorse. But he remained silent.

"I laughed. Long and hard and loud, that's what I did. Killing had brought a pleasure inside me that I had never felt before. That one technique, my bloodline justu, could be executed at my youthful will. And from that moment on, I swore I would slay anything that crossed my path, which I did, until a year later when I met my sensei."

Gaara was completely and utterly taken aback. She had been so akin to him and he never had a passing thought about it. All this time it had been right under his uncaring nose. That scar was a symbol of her agony – both physically and emotionally. The most physical pain she had ever felt in her life was from the blade of a relentless kumo shinobi; hating her for what she didn't ask for. But the sense of helplessness, and guilt for the death of her sister… much more painful, but both scarred her deeply. And for the first time since his loss of sanity, Gaara felt that he could actually start to trust someone – this girl.

He stood up, and walked around the tree to the tear stained girl. She gazed up at him, and he extended his hand.

"It seems that… I simply can't hate you."

She couldn't help but smile. Yukiko mind translation: "I like you, let's be friends".

"And… I just can't accept your stupid 'charity' of ramen. I…er… owe you. So maybe, if you want to…not that you have to or anything, I'm just saying… but if you did, maybe, I could pay you back by, um, you know. Giving, uh… taking you to a, ummm- Do you like dumplings?"

"_Translation: 'I feel bad for mooching a free meal off you with out a second thought to your person. Would you like to accompany me to dinner? Perhaps the consumption of pork-filled, wrapped, fried foods would be appealing to you taste?"_

She tried not to laugh as she entwined her hand into his, "more than life itself."

"Good," he breathed, helping her off her feet, "then…what, um when – no… you? No, no…er"

"Friday at dusk?" she asked for him. Today was Monday, then which Friday was so far away…

"Yeah that."

"_I commend you for your extensive knowledge of my true intentions. Jolly good show… okay, he would totally not say 'jolly good show…'"_

"And will we meet there, or will you meet me at my apartment?" she inquired once more.

"The, uh… you. Me-meet-apartment," he stuttered.

"Great! See you Friday!" She flounced over to her pack, and threw it over her shoulder. She turned to Gaara, waved and smiled, and walked away.

"Heh," he mused, leaning up against the pine again, griping his arm. He grinned and flushed very slightly, wondering how he was going to explain this to Kankuro and Temari.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(A/N: Gobi no Sokou – the five tailed dog demon. The two-tailed one is actually a cat. From now on the demon Yukiko contains is Sokou. Sorry for the mix up!)

"YEOWCH!"

"Yuki-chan, hold still!"

"We're almost done!"

"PAIN! GAH! You are ripping my hair out!" Screamed Yukiko as Sakura and Ino twisted, brushed, and pinned her hair out of her face. Ino reached for the soaking flowers on the nightstand, and entwined the stem into Yukiko's hair – a pale lily.

"Finished," she concluded stepping back and admiring her handy work, "you're so pretty! He'll be _drooling_ over you."

Yukiko giggled shyly at her comment, and shifted on her feet. She was wearing a basic lavender kimono with cherry blossom print and her hair was pulled into a spiky ponytail embedded with the lily, though several strands of hair managed to escape and hung loosely on the left side of her face.

"He's just paying me back for the meal, it's really nothing serious," she confirmed, turning around to face them.

Both Sakura and Ino exchanged glances and the same, knowing smirk was plastered to both of their faces.

"Yeah right. It's a date and you know it!" they said simultaneously.

Yukiko chewed her lip bitterly. She couldn't let them get away with heckling her like this. She pondered for a brief moment and then it came to her. A sinister smirk spread across her face.

"You know, I guess you're right, Ino-chan. And I do suppose that you going over to Shika's for dinner isn't a date, ne?"

Ino turned bright red, and started to fidget nervously, "What do you mean by that! He invited me over to discuss training techniques."

"Ohhh, so what kind of training? Are you going to train your tongues? Or perhaps you will engage in playing with his-"

"OK! THAT'S ENOUGH!" She shrieked, Sakura burst out into fits of laughter. Yukiko turned her head evilly and beamed once more.

"Don't think you're getting off either, my pink-haired friend," she said slyly, "now, according to my research, I don't believe you were sent on a mission to break into Naruto-kun's house and… what was it, hug his old shirts and inhale the scents of… body smell without a bath for one week, toothpaste and ramen?"

Sakura leaned over blushing furiously. This time, it was Ino's turn to laugh. But it wasn't for long…

**Sob Sob (hic)**

"UWAAA! I'm sorry! I made you cry! Don't cry! D-don't cry, Sakura-chan!" Yukiko squealed frantically.

"Eh heh… he.. ha… HAHAHAAHA!"

"Huh," she questioned glumly. Sakura lifted her head, and beamed. There was no indication of tears, not one.

"Gotcha! But that was still not funny, I do miss him terribly," she stated, folding her arms against her chest. An awkward silence picked up in the room, and then Yukiko broke it.

"Let's just face the music… we're all utterly, hopelessly crushing on these really cute, mysterious, spiky haired, panda-eyed… sexy-"

**Thwack.**

"Ehehehe, sorry… I got carried away," she rendered, rubbing the sore spot where Sakura's hand came in contact.

"Ya got that right," she snapped irritably.

**Knock Knock.**

"OMIGOSH! HE'S HERE!" they squealed in unison. Sakura and Ino ran around nervously, and Yukiko started to walk towards the front door.

Outside was Gaara, rubbing the back of his neck impatiently. He sighed: he was in his same outfit, a single blood rose in his hand. He twirled it between his fingers.

"How many girls am I taking to dinner?" he asked himself sarcastically. Then again, this wasn't nearly as bad as earlier.

(An hour ago…)

"Gaara! Can you please go out and get some more wood? We're almost out! And you still need to help decrypt this scroll!" yelled Temari, hand placed on her hip.

The council of Suna had sent them out near Konoha, on some mission of the sort. The sand siblings had stayed in an old abandoned cottage. Not perfect, but at least livable, about a thirty-minute walk from the outskirts of Konoha. The house fairly small, and one level: three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a table for eating. Even so, Temari was relieved that they weren't going to war.

She detested war.

"GAARA!" She yelled a little more impatiently. Ever since that Uzumaki guy hit her brother, it must have knocked some sense into him because normally she would have been killed for getting testy like this.

"CAN'T!" he said in a loud voice. Gaara never yelled, and probably never would.

Temari folded her arms across her chest as her younger brother ambled into the kitchen. He looked normal, save that he was hiding something behind his back.

"What do you mean "can't"? You seriously don't think that Kankuro is going to help me?" Blank stare. The older sister eyed her brother carefully, "what. Do you have a hot date or something?"

Gaara flushed a pale pink, and nodded.

"EH? You're… joking right?" she inquired smirking.

_"Is he for real?"_

He hesitated, and then gave a brief nod – an indication of yes.

"Ah ha… AH… HAHAHAHHAHAAH" she laughed.

**Fwump! **Temari fell over, and began to roll on the ground in hysterical fits of laughter: she was even crying.

"Oh… my… aha… gotta, gotta tell… Kankuro," she heaved, still giggling. But when she looked up, she regretted even making the 'hot date' remark in the first place.

Gaara glared at his older sister: his death glare, the worst possible glare ever. If looks could kill, the core of the planet would have already incinerated her before Gaara could even get a finger on her.

"K-KAAANKUROOOO!" She screamed, hopping to her feet and running away: far, far away, "HE'S GONNNAAA KILLL MEEEEEE!"

Kankuro, who was sitting in his room eating a bowl his diner now in mock peace, sighed.

_"What the hell did she do to make him angry now?"_

Gaara sighed at the ruckus. What was that word that the boy who controlled shadows used? Oh yeah… troublesome. How… troublesome his siblings were.

(End flash back)

Lost in his train of though, he did not hear the door swing open.

"Gaara-san, are you ready?"

"Huh? Ah…. Uh," Gaara was at a loss for words. Yukiko stepped out of her apartment, and beamed. She was wearing a pale lavender kimono that flattered her amethyst eyes, her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and a slight flush was spread across her cheeks. And here he was, standing here in normal attire. In fact, he'd worn this shirt yesterday…

"Are we going?" she asked shyly, holding kimono sleeve in front of her face daintily.

"Yeah… uh… here," he said, extending his arms and showing her the blood rose, "I um found it. I don't like it or any thing, but I figured you might like it… because its pretty, well not to me but its like you because… um."

"Its lovely," she glowed. Taking it gently, and brushing his hand, she turned around, "Let me go put it in some water. I'll be right out."

In and out in five seconds, she reappeared before him. He was glad she hadn't hid on him or anything.

"Gaara-san, ikurio!" she squealed brightly.

"Hey! You don't even know the waaaaaaaaaay." She grabbed his hand, and dragged him. He staggered trying to run with her: she ran so fast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah… that was delicious," Yukiko sighed contently. The pair sat in the restaurant, empty plates with scattered crumbs sat in front of them, "you really missed out you know, ordering those liver-filled dumplings instead of the pork gyoza…"

"I like liver," he said flatly, but a slight smile lit up his face, "But I did try your pork gyoza… it wasn't all that bad."

"Heh heh, you're supposed to say 'I'm glad you liked it'," she corrected, wiping the corners of her mouth with her napkin. The meal had been already been paid for, and she leaned into her booth seat sleepily.

Gaara stood up: Yukiko panicked inside her head.

_"Was this really just payment for the ramen!"_ she thought anxiously.

"Walk?" he asked her, extending his hand.

Yukiko was taken aback slightly by the friendly gesture. She looked up at him, and gave him her most sincere and happy smile: hoping it didn't look fake.

"I'd love too," she answered, grabbing his hand, and leaving the restaurant, long, long behind them.

The night air was calm and cool against her skin. A waning moon hung high in the sky, and the forest had an earthy damp smell to it. It felt so good to walk along side a companion, and to for once actually be conversing with Gaara.

"So, do you have any siblings?" She asked him, stepping over a fallen branch. They weren't heading anywhere in particular; just strolling through the depths of the woods, so care free.

"Yeah… both older than me… a sister and a brother," he told her, pulling his arms behind his head.

She giggled, and he quirked an eyebrow at her. She stifled it with a sleeve, and then spoke up, "Do the sister and brother have names?"

"Temari… and Kankuro. Both of them annoying; we don't get along very well," he said nonchalantly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"GAARA!" she scolded, which took him by surprise, "You shouldn't say things like that! What if one of them was seriously injured?"

"I wouldn't give a damn," he told her. She stopped walking, and looked down. He heard the pause of footsteps, and turned to her.

"I would take a thousand kunai's in the heart just to hear my onee-chan's voice again," she muttered sadly. Gaara then felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: regret.

"Uh… I didn't mean-"

**Sniff. Hic.**

_"Aw hell…"_

"N-no. Please, not that…" he whined. She backed up against a tree and slid down. Holding back her tears, the raven-haired girl gazed up at him.

"Don't cry," he said kneeling down beside her, "please don't. I… I'm… sorry."

"It's a miracle…"

"This is stupid."

"Shut up, Kankuro," snapped Temari quietly. The two older siblings were crouched down in a nearby bush, spying on their younger brother, "Don't you see it? Our little brother just apologized to a girl: a girl who is probably his girlfriend. It's kind of… sweet, in a weird way—ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!"

"Whatever," he replied, "She's just a kid. I hate kids. Gaara'll probably kill her one way or the other."

"You are so negative, now shh," she hushed, placing a finger over her mouth to somewhat enforce silence upon him.

"- but from what you said, they sound so nice!" they caught Yukiko say, "Temari must be really intelligent, using a fan embedded with chakra – its such a unique weapon and I bet its really effective against other weapons. I bet she's really pretty too, because she's your sister!"

This made Temari smile, "See? Such a cute little thing! She'll make a great sister-in-law."

"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?" Kankuro inquired.

"-and Kankuro sounds so great too! Using a puppet, such an interesting style! Ooh, I hope I can spar with them sometime – and of course, I want to cook for them too…"

"Well, a free meal doesn't sound _too_ bad," he stated.

_"Yessss. Gaara's little house wife cooking me all my favorite dishes," _he though.

"You disgust me," Gaara told her jokingly.

"I know!"

"Ugh," Gaara clenched his head in his hands.

"Gaara?"

_"No…it can't be. Not now…"_

**Heh heh heh. I'll devour the woman's flesh. You can watch.**

_"Shukaku," _he spat in his mind. Gaara groaned again: more pain. Not now, he couldn't loose control.

**Pathetic human, I thought you needed no love.**

_("Gaara-san!")_

_"I won't…"_

Outside his mind, Gaara was holding back the incomplete transformation. Yukiko instinctively clung to his arm, and held it tight.

"Fight it," she told him. She knew what was going on.

_"…let you…"_

_("Gaara-san, ikurio!")_

"Don't touch her!" he snarled, she hugged his arm even tighter. Gaara felt the presence of Shukaku slowly ebb away.

_"That chakra… is dissipating," _Yukiko realized.

"Daije bu ka?" she asked him, loosening her sloth grip on his arm.

He nodded wearily. The thought of Shukaku taking over and devouring her had scared him, but not enough to notice a certain pair crouched behind juniper bushes.

"I'm fine. But I don't think two suna nin will be in a few seconds," he growled.

_"Shit, he spotted us," _Temari thought frantically. Both her and Kankuro started to inch away from the other couple.

"Don't Move," he hissed in a death-friendly tone.

Both sand siblings froze in their spots – eyes wide open.

"What's gong on?" she asked him, completely unaware of the situation. Gaara walked over and stood in front of the particular bush. He then turned to Yukiko with an evil grin that sent unpleasant shivers down her spine.

"You are about to witness the most painful death of two very nosey sand shinobi," he told her calmly. A bit too calmly. Turning back to his brother and sister, he cracked his knuckles.

"HE'S GONNA KILL US!" they screamed, running as far as they could away from there extremely pissed off brother, "RUN AWAAAAAAY!"

Gaara sighed, "I'll deal with them later."

"Pardon me for asking, but were those you siblings?"

Gaara gave a brief nod: "Their very annoying, you see?"

"Oh but," she clasped her hands together, "they look even more wonderful than I imagined! Although I must agree that they are a handful… but you must introduce me!"

"Of course," he said, nodding, "See you again? Perhaps next week?"

"I'd love to!" she replied. Gaara turned to leave, but before he made a few feet's progress…

"Gaara-san?"

He halted in mid step, "Hmm?"

"Thank you for being such a good friend," and with that, and an almost melting Gaara, the two went their separate ways.

_"Never in my life would I have ever thought I'd have…"_

"I'm going to kill you two," he said icily to them. Gaara had reached the house and the pair stood outside the door nervously.

"P-please Gaara, be reasonable," Temari fessed, holding her hands up in a gesture of defeat, "mercy!"

"Fine. Be thankful I'm in a "reasonable" mood today or else I would have imploded both of your stupid heads and entertained myself by watching it rain blood."

And with that, he walked right past them, into his room, and closed the door behind him.

"I, Sabaku no Gaara, made a friend…"

Author: To be continued… unless you people don't review! (more sobbing)

Gaara: Please review… I'm being used as a stuffed animal/ tissue.

Author: (latches on to Gaara) for his sake… (smiles) then again, I don't mind _this_ one bit…

Please review, see ya soon!


	6. Storm

Okay! Sorry for much delay, I've been super busy, and as I'm writing this I have really bad chest pains… sorry for the wait!

Chapter six: Storm

"Idiot."

Sakura knelt on the edge of her bed, comforter encasing her shoulders. It was mid November, about a month and a half past Yukiko's quote unquote "first date" with Gaara; and Yuki-chan had been seeing more and more of him ever since then. Even Shikamaru and Ino seemed to be drifting away, leaving Sakura alone: alone and man less.

Warm salty tears fell from her cheeks; the glass catching the drops one by one.

"…When? When will I see you again?"

She choked and rubbed her face, reddened from crying. Gazing at the photo once more, she pressed it too her chest.

"Naruto-kun."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It looks like it's going to rain," Sakura noticed out loud. After a long hard cry, she felt obligated to take a walk, and her walk was nearing its end.

The sky was an awful dark gray, and the wind was blowing rapidly. It had been partly cloudy when she had left, and she had enjoyed her walk. She had somewhat of an intuition of rain when she had left, so she had taken her umbrella. No use now, because Sakura was roughly a block away from home.

Sakura was surprised by the weather: November was usually cold, windy, and most often wet. She was feeling much better contradictory to the weather, and she was also glad that she had decided to start her walk when she did.

The pink haired youth wore a white turtleneck under her usual dress, pants instead of shorts, and a thick black and gray scarf was wrapped around her neck.

Sakura had passed many buildings – having decided to remain in the walls of Konoha. She hadn't known exactly where she was going, she just sort of ambled aimlessly through the streets, and now she was almost home.

Sakura gazed up at the sky once more: any time now.

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

Sakura cut off her sky gazing and looked down, "Ohayo, Ino-chan. Shikamaru-kun."

"Yo," he said with the usual nonchalant tone. The three stopped in their tracks to converse.

"Sakura, Yuki-chan suggested that tomorrow all three of us girls should go out, how 'bout it?"

"Fun," Sakura said sincerely and briskly, "I'll be there… whatever it is. What about the time?"

"Probably six," Ino answered, twirling her stray hair with her index finger.

"Right," she answered happily, "By the way, are you two out for a walk?"

"Yeah… what about it?"

"You might need this," Sakura extended the umbrella in a friendly gesture, Ino took it from her and extended it to Shika.

"Thanks – here, you hold it," she said, shoving the umbrella in his face.

"Why do I have to hold it?" he whined.

Ino smiled maliciously forcing her voice into a threatening tone, "because I said so, you silly!"

Shikamaru knew that tone of voice; it sort of reminded him of his mother's voice, in a very creepy and sickening way. If he wanted to make it home alive…

Shika obediently took the umbrella from her hands, muttering something about troublesome women under his breath. All he got for it was a pat on the head: something a kin to what an owner of a dog would do if the dog had been good.

_"Great, I'm her pet now," _he groaned inwardly.

"I'd best be going, have a nice walk!" Sakura addressed them, and left the two standing alone.

_"Even more great, I don't have anyone to save me from Ino's wrath."_

The pair began to walk again.

"Why is it that whenever women go out they always go out in threes?"

Ino gave him a funny look, "What do you mean by tha-wait, did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"There, again," she retorted. Shika gawked at her as if she were going insane, "Shika-kun, put up the umbrella!"

"It's not even raining," he told her.

"Put it up!"

"No! You make me hold the stupid thing," he said wavering the pink ducky umbrella around in the air, "and now you're wanting it back. Make up your mind, woman!"

"Nara Shikamaru, don't f# with me today. PUT UP THE DAMN-"

The rain came and interrupted Ino in mid-sentence as if someone poured a very large, never ending bucket of water over the whole village. Within seconds, the two were soaked to the bone.

"-Umbrella," finished Ino, defeated. She snatched it from Shikamaru's hands and stared at it.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place!" he snapped.

"Well why didn't _you_ put up the stupid thing like I had asked you to, you lazy idiot?" She huffed. The rain streamed down her face as the sky relentlessly poured. She sighed, "well it's useless now, let's go home."

She started walk away, tossing the umbrella over her shoulder without a second thought.

"That could have hit someone, you know!" Shika scolded, as they ran towards Ino's house. Back where the pair had argued, a man lay unconscious next to a very familiar looking umbrella.

"Don't worry, I'm sure no one got hurt," she reassured him.

The wind picked up, sending a chill through the couple, and the rain grew even heavier as Shikamaru and Ino came closer to the shelter. A few minutes later, they reached their destination – cold, wet, tired, and panting.

Ino held herself up by pressing a palm against the wall of the house's exterior, she gasped in another breath of air, and then turned to Shikamaru, "Do you want to come in?" she asked him. They were once again standing in the doorway of Ino's house.

_"This seems oddly proverbial," _she thought.

"I'll be fine," he told her.

"YAAARGH!"

"Huh?" the pair questioned simultaneously. Both turning around to see what, or who had yelled.

A man was being dragged along by the wind while holding a rather familiar looking umbrella. It started to hail, and the icy stones hit him square in the head and knocked him unconscious.

"Is that Sakura's- oh brother," thought Ino. She turned to Shika once more.

"Well?"

"Shika took one more glance at the unconscious guy, and the picture of himself lying on the street in Konoha bleeding all over the place and being impaled by giant balls of ice. The image didn't agree with him too well…

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay until the storm passes," he affirmed, and the two walked inside.

"I think I have some of my dad's old clothes you can borrow. Stay down here," she told him. Ino ran into a room, came with a towel, and flung it to Shika, " use this to dry yourself off – I'll be right back," and with that, Ino disappeared up the stairs.

"What a mess," he said out loud, wiping his face with the towel. Shikamaru walked over to the window, and leaned on the ledge.

"I could just leave right now and completely avoid a bad situation with Ino altogether." _"Besides, statistics show with previous events with her that I'm bound to be smacked…"_

"KAAAA-CHAAAANNN!"

Shika perked up as the man from before flew across the view of the window, and smacked into a street pole.

"Okaaaay, Ino doesn't hit that hard," he mumbled as he watched the unconscious guy go flying away once more. Sighing, he pulled off his soaking shirt, and set it on the table. Shika nabbed the towel once more and rubbed it over his head, loosening the grip of the hair tie. He completely yanked it out, and his damp hair fell to his shoulders, many strains plastered against his red cheeks.

"Eeeeek!"

"Mou?"

**THWACK!**

"OUCH, DAMNIT!" Shika howled, holding his cheek in his palm. He turned to see a very angry Ino glaring at him, flushed from embarrassment.

"YOU PERVERT!" she shrieked, "HENTAI! SUKEBE!"

"You're-OUCH-the one-OUCH-who walked in on-OUCH-me!" he sputtered between punches.

"I'm going to change now and don't you even think about peeping on me, you letch!" she snapped, tossing a set of clothes in his face and stomped away angrily.

"What the hell was that for," he moaned, pulling the sage green shirt over his head.

"I can't believe him! Undressing in front of me like that! He's got nerve if he's trying to pull something," she huffed, peeling off her shirt and untying her hair, "Still, for such a lazy baka, he has quite a lot of muscle." She mumbled under her breath, blushing slightly, "And I've never seen him with his hair down before… he's kinda… cute."

Ino sighed once more, and pulled off her jeans, dropping them into a corner. Once her pants were off, she unlatched her bra, and let her eyes wander to-

"KYAAAAA!"

Not even a few seconds passed and the door burst open.

"Ino, are you all right? I heard-" Shika stopped in mid-sentence as he gaped at the sight in front of him.

Ino was standing half-naked, facing him, bra dangling from her hand. He covered his cherry red face to prevent himself from angering her any further, although he was in some pretty deep shit. And to also prevent any more naughty thoughts coming into his head, alas the image of Ino standing bare-chested in her purple panties was already etched into his memory for life.

She screamed once more, than turned to the wall and screamed, and then finally covered herself the towel.

"W-what's the problem? Are you alright?" he stuttered, still covering his eyes.

"S-P-PIDER!" she screamed once more, "SQUISH-IT, SQUISH-IT, SQUISH-IT, SQUISH-IT, SQUISH-IT!"

"Can I look now?"

"SQUSHIT!"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'" he said calmly. Prying his fingers slightly, he noticed that she was wrapped in a towel, and in a fetal position. He sighed in annoyance, grabbed a piece of paper from her desk, squished the eight-legged parasite, and chucked it out her bedroom window.

"Spider eliminated. Now how may I be of service next, princess?" he said sarcastically.

Ino opened her eyes and looked up at a frowning Shikamaru. Narrowing her eyes, she stood up in a huff, and pulled back her hand. Shika then realized what he was in for, though he was positive it was bound to happen no mater what he did.

"Aw F-"

**SMACK**

"Stupid, troublesome bitch. I help her and what do I get?" Shikamaru mumbled to himself, rubbing the handprint on his face tenderly. He was back on the couch downstairs, waiting for Ino to change in her now spider less room.

"At least I hope its spider less, bug less, whatever. Just as long as she doesn't hit me again…" He leaned back into the sofa, cradling his sore face, "maybe the storm has settled, maybe I can finally get out of this hell-hole…"

He eased up a little, and cocked his head towards the window.

"FREEDOM!" The man who was hit by the very familiar umbrella, stood outside and formed a victory pose. A gust of wind sent a piece of paper smack into his face.

"NOOOO! IT'S DARK AND SLIMEY AND DARK AND MOMMIEEEE!" Shika watched the guy run out of the view of the window.

_"Shit, it's still storming…but maybe it's not that bad…"_

Shikamaru got his butt off the couch and hobbled over to the window.

"It doesn't look too bad…" He marveled at the pouring rain and howling wind. _"Well anything is better than-"_

**BAM!**

"Eep."

Guy with umbrella smacked into the window, scaring Shikamaru out of his intelligent wits. Guy with umbrella swiveled down the window pain, drool stain left on Ino's window.

"Okay, bad idea…"

"What's a bad idea?"

"Nyuhh?"

Shika turned his head towards Ino's voice. He gaped yet again, Ino was in her pajamas: purple- any other color was out of the question for Ino, it had always been her favorite. The fact that her hair was down may have also had a small effect on his staring.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, brushing back her damp hair incitingly.

"Er…" _"Hungry for what! She didn't even pull the seduction technique, and I'm still ensnared…"_

"Er… no, I'm find," he said. It was then that his stomach growled, and reminded him that he forgotten to eat lunch today. It was easy to forget when your parents weren't home.

_"And her parents aren't home either-ACK! Bad thoughts! Nooooo!"_

"Well, yeah… me too. Y'know, I was just wondering about you… if you were okay," she said, slightly flushed. Her stomach growled even louder than his did.

"Let's sit down," she said in a singsong voice.

"Right behind you."

The pair sat down on the couch. Ino exhaled.

"So."

"So…"

**GURGLE**

Both stomachs growled in perfect harmony. The two looked at each other once more.

"I can cook… what about you?" She asked him.

"Rice… and sometimes I burn that…" he fessed.

"Well, c'mon then," she said, and hopped off the sofa, pulling him up with her. And the two made their way towards the kitchen, "though I still don't see how you can burn rice… you just stick it in boiling water."

"You use water?" Shika asked. Ino looked at him; his face was completely serious.

"You…really, didn't know… that you're supposed to use…water?" She asked, sniggering slightly.

"What? Is everyone supposed to know that you use water to cook rice."

"Ha… ha AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"W-what are you laughing about?"

"HA HA HAAHAHAH!"

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!

"YES IT IS!"

"LET'S JUST EAT!"

"Fine… but don't burn the rice! HA!"

"Sheesh…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Itadakimasu."

Shika and Ino sat before the steaming food in front of them. Ino had cooked almost all of it, and Shikamaru, much to her surprise and to his own, actually did not burn the rice (although the knowledge of adding water may have helped: just a little…).

The pair didn't make haste to dig in – the meal was had completely vanished off the table and into their stomachs within the half hour.

"Oh… that was good," Shika moaned contently. _"Wow, she's cooking for me, and now," _he paused in thought as he watched her gather the empty plates, _"she's cleaning. She's like my little housewife…did I just? Bah… troublesome."_

Shika pushed himself off the table to stand, "I'll be in the living room if you need me."

"Actually," she said brightly, "I'm done. Mind if I come join you? Unless… you don't want company."

"Do whatever you want… it's your house," he replied, parking himself on a seat. Ino smiled and plopped down right next to him.

"It's hard to believe how far we've come," she started to say, "I mean. You're a chuunin, almost a jounin at that. It's also hard to believe that Yukiko some how managed to weasel her way into Gaara's heart."

"She has the ability to do that to just about near everyone she meets," Shika commented.

"You're right," She agreed, "still. Most people could doubt that he even had one."

"You dummy, if you don't have a heart, you'll die."

"I _know_ that, Shika! Don't get all smart and technical on me!" She fussed, leaning back into the cushions.

_"Geeze… why does he have to be such a stiff? All this arguing makes me tired…"_

"Fine," he said calmly, "Then again, I thought you liked smart people. Isn't that Sasuke smart!"

_"Fuck. I just made myself sound jealous, didn't I?"_

"Hmm?" Ino questioned, overwhelmed by a wave of fatigue. She stifled a yawn, and leaned in more to the cushions. "Are you… jealous?"

"Me?" he questioned in a very exhausted voice, "Of that guy? No way. Honestly, you and your questions… troublesome."

Ino felt another rush of tiredness, "Well… just so you know… I don't like him anymore… not… since…"

"You don't?" he asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"Would I lie to you… silly?" she asked both slyly and sleepily, "I'm over him. He's a total jerk wad, so cold and distant. What I really need is…"

"What?" he asked her. He turned his head: her eyes were closed, her breathing slow.

"Ino… how could you fall asleep?" he questioned aloud. He smacked himself in the face, and then his shoulder felt heavy. He turned his head again to meet a face full of hair – she had fallen asleep on him.

"Troublesome," he said blushing slightly. She apparently wasn't faking it, her breathing was too slow for her to be awake.

"What am I going to do with you?" he said playfully.

"Nyaah…"

**Thwump**

"Crap."

Ino in her sleep and with one swift movement tossed herself onto shika's lap, nuzzling into it.

"This couldn't get anyworse."

"Nyaah…"

**Thwump, bump, CRASH!**

Another set of movements and the couch lay folded down like a bed, Ino now partially sprawled over him, and more nuzzling.

"I just had to ask, didn't I?" he questioned out loud. Sighing, he lay their motionless, plotting out his motives.

"Option 1: Try to move, wake up Ino, attempt to explain what happened, get called a pervert and get mashed into a pulp. Option 2: wait until morning, Ino wakes up by herself, chastises me for being a pervert and taking advantage of her the whole night, get called a big pervert and get mashed into a pulp, and spend the night with Ino…" he said, and then realized, "spend the night… I am going to get killed for this – either way. Well, then I'd rather have it this way."

He smiled to himself, and caressed her blond locks. Allowing himself to drift to sleep.

_"I…care most about you, and I'll take a beating for it."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is it still raining?"

Gaara sat relaxed on a chair, In Yukiko's kitchen. She had invited him over for tea, and the storm had kept the two at her house. It had been a very nice time with them just alone, together.

"Yeah," she called back, and pulled away from the windows, "Hard to believe it's lasted this long. It looks like it'll let up in no time though."

"Ever the optimist as usual," he said very nonchalantly. He gazed intently at the window once more as she pulled up a chair next to him.

"Of course. You need an optimist like me. Besides, how else do you expect to get home and get a good nights sleep," she said brightly.

"I don't sleep, remember?"

"Oh! OMIGOSH! I'M SORRRY!" she squealed, standing and bowing, "Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryim-"

"Calm down," he said, reverting to a slight forgiving expression from his usual dean-pan one, "It's not your fault that I can't."

"Yes, but I had to go and be stupid and remind you of it!" She complained.

He sighed, stood up, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stop punishing yourself, okay? You're not stupid, stupid… wait, that's not what I meant to say…"

"Gaara-san." She said, eyes shining.

"What?" he asked sourly, turning to her. Her only response was a very large smile. And then, he some how found himself smiling back.

In the middle of the storm.

Fin! Sorry this one was a little short, my chest still hurts really bad… please review, JA NE!


	7. Kankuro, Temari, a picnic … oh my!

A/N: I am truly sorry that I haven't updated in awhile! I've just been so busy with stuff that I've forgotten and pushed this off to the side! Thanks for all the comments!

Chapter Seven: Kankuro, Temari, a picnic … oh my!

"_What does this mean?"_

_"I was… once without a purpose…"_

_"Even when I found kindness, it wasn't enough."_

_"Now…"_

_"…now I see…"_

_The importance to protect the ones you love._

"It happened again."

Yukiko forced open her eyes as she felt the warmth of the sun rest easily on her skin. She sat up with a slightly groggy vigor, and shook away the exhaustion. It was tiring – the dream had come for the fourth night in a row, and she still couldn't bear the contents of it all.

_"Why does this continue to torment me? No. I can't allow this. I'm meeting him today."_

Sighing rapidly, she planted her feet firmly on the floor and rose. It had been a week since the storm passed. Although intense, minded Yukiko, reaching for her brush, it hadn't left any major side effects.

"Well… not on the buildings of the village," she laughed as she noted about Shikamaru and Ino being rather 'comfy' with each other these past few days. She had already peeled off her nightgown and threw a new dress over her head.

"I'll make breakfast," she said aloud, tying her forehead protector so that it rested a top her head, in similarity to the way Sakura wore hers, "And then bring it to Gaara-san. He deserves a nice breakfast – although I'm not sure what his siblings have been cooking…"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Hungry…"

Kankuro was slumped over on the table in the small cottage they had rented. Investigation had never been so long and tiresome, and he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks.

"Then eat your food!" Instructed Temari sourly. She set the bowl down forcefully and it 'clanged' very loudly, bouncing the silverware. Gaara sat in the corner with his arms folded across his chest, a rather contemplative look about his face. He knew better than to interrupt a fight between the two.

"Like hell I'll eat that!" he snapped irritably, "I'm asking for a death sentence if I do."

Temari twitched with rage at her brother's rash words, "Why you…"

With amazing speed, the female whipped out the giant fan and it came crashing down on Kankuro's head.

"ITE!" he cried, and rose irritably.

"What is the meaning of that damn fan?" he snarled at his sister, who stood there indifferently.

"What right do you think you have to insult my cooking?" she challenged, glaring at him.

"Why? Because it sucks!"

"Take it back!"

"I don't feel like it…"

"TAKE IT BACK!"

"NO!"

"Shut up!"

The two bickering immediately stopped at the sound of Gaara's words. Although he had been less threatening within the recent months, he still became irritable ever once in a while.

"You're nonsensical quarrelling is annoying," he said coldly, "I'm leaving."

"H-hold on a sec," Temari shouted at him as he made his way towards the door, "Gaara, where are you going! GAARA!"

XOXOXOXXOXOOXOXXOXOXOXOOXOXOX

"Yosh! This is perfect," chirped Yukiko.

Yukiko happily stood in her kitchen, doing the one thing she was best at – cooking. Steam drifted from the pots and pans on the stove top, filling the air with the wonderful scent of home-cooked food.

"Gaara-san," she said knowingly, stirring, "Does not like anything sweet, so I made fresh bread, plain onigiri and omelets for breakfast. And-"

She flipped the sizzling egg mixture in the pan, and turned off the burner that boiled water for tea, "I made it with Gaara-san's favorite meat – ground liver."

With a fluid movement, she flipped the omelet onto the cutting board that she had set out earlier. Yukiko picked up a chopping knife, and swiftly cut the egg into bite-sized pieces. Once chopped, she nestled them fashionably inside dried nori for color, and set the two types into each box – namely liver, and liverless.

Plain, but tasty looking rice balls were added to the boxes, and then they were shut to prevent the loss of warmth. Satisfied with her handiwork, Yukiko slid on a pair of oven mitts and checked on the bread, which was baking in the oven.

The scent that escaped was overwhelming. She pulled out the bread, and inhaled the steam whole-heartedly. Once cooled slightly, Yukiko proceeded to wrap the loaf in a warm cloth, and tucked it away into her knapsack along with the two lunch boxes.

Lastly, she poured the water into a thermos, and pulled out the ground ginger and oolong mix for the tea. She also pulled out a miniature tea set, and pushed it into the remained of space inside the bag.

"Ok. Set," She exclaimed, throwing the bag over her shoulder gently. Keys were snatched up as Yukiko made her way out.

The late November day was unusually warm, and few clouded drifted in the endless sky. Trees burst with brilliant fall colors in the forest that surrounded the raven-haired girl. She beamed, and headed towards the meeting place that they had set in previous days.

She intensified her gaze, and soon came upon the sight of messy red hair.

"GAARA-SAAAN!" She called excitedly rushing towards him. He perked up at the familiar voice, and turned.

Yukiko paused in front of him, breathing with rushed movements. He greeted her with a nod.

"I brought you breakfast!" she exclaimed, and knelt down to pull out her meal, "Or rather, lunch I suppose."

He sighed irritably, recalling the events that occurred earlier in the house, and leaned against a nearby tree as Yukiko spread out a medium sized blanket. She noticed the tone of his sigh, and spoke as she pulled out the food, "Something troubling you?"

"It's nothing," said Gaara casually, ambling over to the blanket.

With the two bento boxes and loaf of bread set out, Yukiko pulled out the teakettle, and began to fill it with the ground oolong mixture, "It doesn't sound like nothing. Do tell me what's on your mind."

"It's useless to bother one with insignificant ordeals," he stated, sitting down, and folding his hands to be suitable for resting his chin on.

"Well," she said soothingly, pulling out chopsticks and setting their places, "Although you make think it's bothering, one may find discussing one's significant ordeals enjoyable."

He gazed upward to meet her secure smile.

"Really?" he said with little enthusiasm.

"Yes, really." Confirmed Yukiko, finally sitting down.

Gaara sighed again, "Nothing unusual – both annoying people decided to argue over her cooking." He picked up his chopsticks and broke them apart; "rather, he insulted her cooking, which prompted her to dent his head with her weapon."

"Itadakimasu," they said simultaneously, and began their meal.

"So what you're saying," she said between bites, "is that Kankuro-san was complaining of Temari-san's cooking? And then Temari-san hit Kankuro-san over the head with her giant fan?"

Gaara grunted – an indication of two things. One was, he intended to answer her with yes. And two was, because of not saying yes, it meant that he was too busy enjoying the food to give a proper answer.

"I can see," she marveled, pouring him another cup of tea, "no wonder you look incredibly happy today-"

Gaara choked on his food as she said this, dropping his chopsticks and covering his mouth as he coughed.

"Happy?"

"Yes," she answered politely.

He gave her a rather disbelieving look, "Is that so?"

She nodded, "That is so. Because although you may sigh irritably and mumble insistently about the annoyance of it all, Gaara-san-"

He looked at her once more, and she gave him a warm smile.

"-you smile so happily with those eyes of yours. Those eyes didn't hold anger, hatred, or annoyance when I first saw them – they held loneliness. And even now…"

He didn't advert his eyes from her gaze, which was set upon them. Her eyes seemed to shine as she spoke of his.

"… they have changed again."

Gaara turned his head in annoyance, completely in disbelief of her worlds.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he scoffed.

"But I know you do!" she exclaimed, and with out warning, she rested her hand upon his. They both sat there in awkward silence: her warm hand entwined with his. She blushed prettily and withdrew her hand to hide her face.

As they continued their meal, Gaara really did understand what she had meant: he had changed. He was making conversation, and rarely ever went out of his way to kill anyone anymore. It was all because of her, and Naruto.

He gazed at her intensely; her petite but firm hands grasped the chopsticks, picking up bites of food. Yukiko's violet eyes moved swiftly and fluidly as she continued her ritual. She paused, and gazed up at him. His pale skin turned slightly rosy as she looked into his eyes curiously.

"Something wrong?" she chirped.

There it was again, that terrible sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt as if he was going to heave up his lunch, and yet, he had this nauseating feeling of being stuck in lukewarm water. And yet… it felt like something he had never experienced before, something that couldn't be described with trivial words.

"Not feeling too well," he mentioned casually.

"Oh," she said. Without warning, she pressed her hand to his forehead. He recoiled slightly at the touch, and then turned slightly pink.

"You don't feel like you have a fever," she stated, contrary to what Gaara said he felt, his skin was nice and cool, "would you like to go home?"

"N-no, that's not it," he stuttered, and sighed deeply. What was this? He wasn't sick, maybe then…

CRACK

The sharp sound of shrubbery branches breaking echoed throughout the clearing. The pair interrupted from their awkward moment sharply turned towards the noise.

A young juniper bush was now squashed beneath the weight of a young woman with golden hair, and a somewhat older man with extensive looking make-up.

Yukiko looked at them curiously, she was rather surprised that she hadn't sensed their presence – a mental note was made so that she wouldn't let her guard down at a later time with him. But that wasn't the thing that was on her mind right now. What was a far more serious matter at hand was the swelling amount of charka building up besides her.

Turning slightly, Yukiko shuddered – Gaara's expression was very deadpan and nonchalant, but beneath that fixed illusion of passiveness…

Was indescribably malicious and ominous.

"You…"

The sand that was corked and normally settled inside the gourd mounted on the youth's back was spewing a raging, steady stream of sand. This was quickly snaking around the two teens, ready to ensnare and strangle them until their bodies imploded in a spray of blood.

"I'm so glad!"

There was a loud exclamation of shock, as Yukiko bustled over to Gaara's siblings. Gaara unconsciously dropped his weapon – the sand spattering onto the grass.

"Simply amazing!" Yukiko bowed to the pair, and then almost seemed to glow as she spoke, "I'm Yamiho Yukiko, I am very pleased to meet you… Temari-san," she addressed Temari smiling, "I've heard such amazing stories from the villagers about the giant fan you wield, I'd really like to see it. And Kankuro-san," she turned to Kankuro, "the puppet wielder. Not a very easy task to do. Takes a lot of charka control."

_"Well she's not that bad," _Kankuro thought.

"Oh! Have you eaten?"

Temari and Kankuro shook their heads, despite that the subject was rather… touchy.

"Then… you must join us for lunch! I really insist! If, it's not too much trouble…" she implored.

Kankuro grunted, he wasn't in a particularly in a good mood today, after the 'Temari cooking incident', he wasn't too keen on experimenting with anyone else's cooking today. Not to mention that Gaara was probably still enraged about them spying on him.

"We-

"-would love to join you for some lunch!" Temari interjected, non-visibly punching her brother, an indication that Kankuro wouldn't be getting out of this situation.

Yukiko directed the four back to the picnic area, and pulled out two plates, and two pairs of chopsticks – thankful for the instinct to pack extra. She also pulled out the extra food and mindfully set the area up for them.

"There you are," she said briskly to them. Temari politely folder her legs behind her while Kankuro sat with his legs crossed, slightly slouched, "please."

The two new comers hesitantly picked up their chopsticks, and each grabbed a plate full of the steaming food. A simultaneous murmur of 'itadakimasu' followed by the sound of clacking utensils and food shortly followed.

"Amazing…" Temari said between mouthfuls of rice.

Kankuro had seldom time to talk as he was shoveling the food into his mouth at an abnormally fast rate, and as soon as Temari had finished her rice, he set down the empty plate in front of him, sighing contently.

"That was the best meal I've ever had in years. Gaara, you should invite her over to cook more often, and take her as a house wife."

"H-house wife?" Yukiko squeaked embarrassedly.

"Brother…"

Gaara uttered the word with menacing and deadly force. The cork that contained the sand in the gourd on his back spiraled downward with a 'pop' as sand deftly sprung out of it, looming over Kankuro.

Temari laughed nervously as her youngest brother stare angrily at the one besides her. With a few swift movements, she picked up the remainder of her food (plus Kankuro) and cautiously backed away.

"Don't mind him, he didn't take his medication this morning. Well, will just be leaving now…" And with that, the two fled back into the depths of the forest.

Gaara sighed as the sand retracted into his gourd, and held his head in his hands.

"Gaara-san, you're brother and sister are so interesting and wonderful!" Chirped Yukiko, gazing intently into Gaara's eyes.

He looked at her: despite the rude comment that his brother had made, she still smiled. Even her heliotrope eyes seemed to glow with delight; a nice complement to her silky yet short raven hair, and her pale skin glowed slightly pink in her cheeks. And as Gaara took all this in, his usual deadpan face loosened, and his lips curved upwards into a slight smile.

"You really think so," he said amusedly.

"You're smiling!" She said grinning, and folded her hands together happily, "you hardly ever do that!"

Gaara's expression returned to normal, but with a hint of awkwardness as she acclaimed his actions. "Don't get used to it."

She just smiled again, and the feeling of sickness returned to him. It didn't really feel all too terrible when it happened, but it was a rather unusual and never-felt sort of sensation.

He figured he could get used to it.

Sorry this one was a bit short, I'll make sure the next one is longer… (I hope) so tune in next time for: Encounter! The wrath of the tailed demons (cheesy title I know…)


End file.
